Coming from Southern California’s surfing capital of Encinitas, it was only natural for a local surfer and yogi to develop the latest innovative and sustainable product to hit the market. Meet Suga, the world’s first yoga mat made entirely from recycled wetsuits.
The company’s focus on corporate sustainability and social responsibility, combined with the product’s functionality, is raising awareness across both the surf and yoga industries. Unlike most yoga mats made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), these are fully-recyclable at the end of their lifecycle. Taking wetsuits out of landfills and repurposing them into yoga mats, surf mats, and koozies, they’ve already gained attention from the surfing community, landing well-known brand ambassadors, including Rob Machado, Taylor Knox, Jamie Sterling, and Tyler Fox.
With what began as a Kickstarter campaign in December of 2015, the start-up company successfully raised over $29,000 in just five weeks, enabling them to complete their first full production run this spring.
By avoiding the use of PVC, the result is an eco-friendly, clean product. Because Suga mats are manufactured from neoprene, they’re uniquely closed-cell foam, which means they don’t sponge up bacteria, sweat, dust, and dirt from yoga studio floors like other mats. So for those who go through wetsuits quickly, you now have a new place to drop off or send in your old neoprene so they don’t just end up in a landfill. Do your part and check out Suga’s recycle locations and they’ll even hook you up with a discount on a mat purchase. Just do them a favor and send in your wetsuits after you let it dry in the sun for a day or two.
