Truly sustainable fashion: ditch the greenwashing with Nisa Active

Conscious shopping is in, and big brands are riding the wave of the trend. Now that shoppers are voting with their wallets for more responsibly-sourced products, ‘organic’ and ‘recycled’ collections have cropped up on the racks of fast fashion brands. Despite the use of these seemingly responsible fabrics, large-scale production and murky supply chains can still cause harm to the planet.

Sustainable production starts with the materials and continues until the garment is handed to the customer. We’re proud of the fact that our activewear is made from recycled nylon, but we didn’t stop there; here’s why Nisa Active is a truly sustainable option for your walkout wardrobe.

Our fabric is knit more efficiently

Usually, non-recycled fabric for activewear is created from oil. This needs to through a bunch of different treatments before it becomes a pair of leggings, with each stage using up energy and producing wastewater and carbon dioxide emissions. In the case of our activewear, pre-used plastic from waste such as fishing nets and plastic bottles is made into nylon chips, that are then spun into yarn and knitted into our fabric. Our suppliers use a streamlined production process that reduces waste water by 84%, gas emissions by 77% and energy usage by 8.5% in comparison to standard production methods.

Lean production

When companies make more garments than they can sell, unwanted garments usually end up in the landfill. We make small batches according to demand; while this means we might sell out more often, it also means that we don’t end up with boxes upon boxes of garments that people don’t want. We get our fabric pieces cut by a computerised system that configures a layout with the least amount of scrap fabric created, and we use a Kanban system in the workshop to help us know when it’s time to make more stock.

Locally-made

Our activewear fabric is knitted by an ethical manufacturer in China. Once our fabric arrives in Aotearoa, it doesn’t leave. Our fabric is cut, fused, and printed in Tāmaki Makaurau, and sewn up in Pōneke. By keeping it local, we prevent the emissions created by outsourcing the production process globally. If you’re based in Wellington, you can further reduce emissions by picking up your garment in-store when you order online!

Quality is key

No matter how sustainable the fabric is, low-quality construction shortens the life of a garment and creates waste faster. While designing our activewear, we thought about which areas garments need to do the most heavy lifting, and placed our seams to accommodate this. We wear-tested our garments to make them last the extra mile, so you don’t need to have 12 pairs of leggings in your wardrobe. Recently, we’ve upgraded our seams by sewing them with a flatlock for added strength and endurance.

Shop Nisa activewear here.