Kumana Activewear is a Hawaiʻi-based, Native Hawaiian-owned business with the goal of inspiring a healthy lifestyle for our community in Hawaiʻi. We are rooted deeply in what it means to be ʻaina-minded: all Kumana Activewear is made of fishing nets and pre- and post-consumer plastics pulled from the ocean to be recycled using the most environmentally-friendly processes possible to be given a new purpose in life - your new activewear! Each item is packaged in 100% compostable packaging from manufacturer, to us, to you. “Kumana” refers to standing strong, firm with power. It is a nod not only to physical health and fitness, but also to the strength of oneʻs being and spirituality.

Options for sustainable activewear are extremely limited, particularly here in Hawai’i.  While consumers around the world are becoming more and more educated on plastic pollution, many don’t realize that we each have a large store of plastic that we haul around with us all day everyday: our wardrobes.  These days, it’s likely that 60% of your closet is made of plastic: Polyester, Nylon, Spandex - basically any garment made of fiber that doesn’t grow from the earth or off an animal is plastic.  The worst part is that those fibers are all likely made of virgin materials - in other words, they haven’t been recycled.  And those garments shed microscopic plastic fibers, which end up in our soils and waterways and eventually wash down into the ocean.  A 2011 study done by ecologist Mark Browne found that 85% of the sediment along 18 shorelines across the world were made up of microplastic fibers smaller than 1mm, which are consumed by living organisms all the way up the food chain to humans. Those are tiny plastics that are about the same size as the thickness of your fingernail!

So what can we do about it? We can be more conscious of our apparel consumption: What fabric is the garment made of? Where was that fabric made? Where was the garment made?  Were both made in an environmentally-friendly way? Is the person who made your garment being paid a living wage and do they have an adequate work-life balance and clean facilities to work in? What happens to the fabric waste that was not used toward making your garment?  All of those questions and more can guide you to be a more conscious consumer, and we are STOKED to tell you that we can provide answers to all of those questions about Kumana Activewear.

Kumana Activewear is recycled clothes made in a garment manufacturing facility in Indonesia, the working conditions of which are on-par with western standards.  Employees are paid well over minimum wage, receive free medical insurance, healthy lunches, and more.  Our fabrics are made in Italy in one of the most eco-friendly fabric manufacturing facilities in the world.  Plastic waste from industrial, pre- and post-consumer sources (fishing nets, tulle, carpets, plastic bottles, and more) are melted down and spun into yarn to be made into fabrics.  The entire process incorporates sustainable methods, by only using electricity from renewable sources, harvesting and recycling rainwater throughout the manufacturing process, discharging only clean water into nearby rivers, and reducing the emissions into the atmosphere at rates ten times lower than the legal limit.  Scrap fabrics leftover from the garment manufacturing process are donated to Indonesian charity groups to be made into saleable goods, including being used as stuffing for dog and cat beds.  Even our packaging is made from renewable resources, in a closed loop manufacturing process, and is compostable!