Now, let’s have a chat about wetsuit materials. Sounds kind of boring but stay with me, it’s actually very, very interesting and super important to know what you are buying. 

First up is petroleum neoprene.

The most common method used to make neoprene is derived from petroleum. Petroleum neoprene is a nonrenewable resource, that has huge implications on the environment including the release of gases and synthetic chemicals into the air, oil exploration, drilling and oil spills that have a direct impact on the surrounding ecosystem.

Now let’s talk about limestone…

Considered historically to be the "better" neoprene for the environment (but is it really?)

Limestone is a finite, unrenewable resource that requires energy and fossil fuel to extract from earth. It also requires huge amounts of energy to then make it into a wetsuit. This whole process is extremely energy intensive. The co2 emissions are not much lower compared to oil-based neoprene manufacturing. 

Now to plant based rubber..

Switching to plant based rubber reduces c02 emissions from one wetsuit by up to 80%. Tapped from hevea trees, plant based rubber replaces your conventional, nonrenewable neoprene. It is a sustainable, renewable alternative to neoprene. And if that wasn’t enough, our AVALY wetsuits are FSC certified. This ensures the hevea rubber used to make the wetsuits is sourced from plantations that preserve biodiversity and ecological integrity. 

We are proudly neoprene free here at AVALY.