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WEAR THE CHANGE

Our commitment to sustainability

Sustainability is a series of decisions. Here's every decision we've made, and why.

WHERE WE STAND

AN HONEST STARTING POINT.

We'll be straight with you: sustainable fashion is complicated, and no brand, including us, has it completely figured out.

What we can do is make every decision count, be transparent about our limitations, and keep pushing for better as options improve. This page covers exactly how we make The Dive Compass, what it's made from, how it gets to you, and where we still have work to do.

Our promise to you

Your order plants corals

Every Dive Compass order plants at least 1 coral fragments on the reefs of Bali. Not "supports reef restoration" or "contributes to ocean causes." Actual corals in the water that you paid for by placing your order.

Why we made it a promise. When a brand says it donates 10% to charity, you have no way of knowing where that money actually goes, it could fund a nonprofit's ad campaigns, admin, or a gala dinner as easily as actual conservation. We didn't want you to have to trust us on that. So we turned our donation into something countable, a guaranteed minimum number of corals planted for every order. If we can't verify the corals went in the water, we haven't kept the promise.

How it works. 10% of every order goes to Livingseas Foundation through our Save Our Seas Pledge. Livingseas builds and maintains coral nurseries off Bali, where dive teams attach coral fragments to structures on damaged reef, monitor their growth, and rebuild habitat that fish, invertebrates, and the local community, depend on. Your donation funds that work directly.

We've seen it firsthand. This isn't a partner we found through an internet search. Our founder, Andrea, has worked directly with Livingseas on reef restoration and has planted the donated corals herself. We know first hand that Livingseas Foundation puts the donations directly into the ocean.

OUR PRODUCTION MODEL

MADE TO ORDER. NOTHING WASTED.

Every Dive Compass piece is made when you order it. We don't hold inventory, which means nothing sits in a warehouse and nothing goes to landfill unsold. The fashion industry wastes an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile every year, mostly from overproduction. Made-to-order production eliminates that problem entirely for our range.

This does mean your order takes 5–7 days to craft before it ships. That's a trade-off we make deliberately, and one we think is worth it.

Our production partner fulfills approximately 86% of orders within the same region they're placed — meaning your order is made and shipped from the facility closest to you, reducing shipping emissions and getting your gear to you faster.

OUR ORGANIC COTTON APPAREL

CERTIFIED ORGANIC COTTON.

Our organic cotton apparel, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies, is produced by Stanley/Stella, one of the world's leading sustainable apparel brands. These pieces are certified to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Organic Content Standard (OCS), independently verified from farm to finished garment.

GOTS is the world's leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, it covers the entire supply chain including environmental and social criteria. OCS verifies that the organic content claim is traceable and legitimate.

Our organic cotton pieces are fulfilled from both our US/Mexico and Latvia production facilities.

OUR PRINTING PROCESS

OEKO-TEX CERTIFIED INKS.

Every Dive Compass design is printed using OEKO-TEX certified inks, tested and verified to be free from harmful substances and safe for direct skin contact. Our swimwear uses sublimation printing, and our organic cotton apparel uses DTG (direct-to-garment) printing with Kornit water-based NeoPigment inks.

Both printing methods use water-based inks with no harmful chemical runoff. The OEKO-TEX certification means every ink used in your garment meets strict international safety standards — safe for adults, children, and sensitive skin.

OUR PACKAGING

RECYCLED MAILERS.

Your Dive Compass order arrives in packaging designed to reduce virgin plastic consumption. All apparel orders are shipped in post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic mailers, made from recycled plastic waste like used shopping bags and wrapping film, with a minimum of 70% PCR content globally and 90–100% PCR content for North American orders.

PCR plastic mailers are recyclable at soft plastic drop-off points, check with your local waste management provider for the nearest location. They cannot go in your standard recycling bin.

The Dive Compass swimmer made with recycled polyester, hanging under a palm tree with a blurred background

OUR FABRICS

What our swimwear is made of

In September 2026, our production partner changed the swimwear fabric at the facility that produces orders for our US customers, where most Dive Compass orders are made. That fabric no longer contains recycled polyester. It's now 78% polyester and 22% elastane: thicker, more durable, and less transparent than before, but no longer recycled. We've written openly about why this happened and what it means → read the full story here.

Some of our range still uses recycled fabric. Our breezy swim shorts, swim trunks and scrunchies for all US orders and our Scuba Bikinis, String Bikinis, Swim Trunks, Breezy Swim Shorts, Scuba Leggings, and Cropped Rashies for all EU orders.

We'll say honestly what we've learned along the way, even recycled polyester was never a perfect answer. All synthetic fabrics, recycled or not, shed microfibres in the wash. We recommend washing your swimwear in cold water, and use a Guppyfriend bag to capture microfibres before they reach waterways helping your garment last longer.

OUR PRODUCTION LOCATIONS

LOCAL PRODUCTION. FEWER SHIPPING MILES.

The Dive Compass is fulfilled through production facilities in the USA/Mexico and Latvia, meaning your order is made and shipped from whichever facility is closest to your delivery address. North American orders ship from the USA or Mexico. European orders ship from Latvia.

Localized production means shorter shipping routes, lower transport emissions, and faster delivery, without centralizing production in a single facility on the other side of the world.

OUR CERTIFICATIONS AT A GLANCE

THE CREDENTIALS BEHIND THE CLAIMS.

GRS — Global Recycled Standard
Verifies that the recycled content claim in our swimwear fabrics is traceable and legitimate. Applies to our recycled polyester swimwear range produced in US/Mexico and Latvia.

OEKO-TEX Standard 100
Confirms our swimwear fabrics have been tested free from harmful substances. Applies to our recycled swimwear range.

GOTS — Global Organic Textile Standard
The world's leading standard for organic fibre processing. Covers the full supply chain of our organic cotton apparel including environmental and social criteria.

OCS — Organic Content Standard
Verifies the organic content claim in our cotton apparel is traceable from farm to finished garment.

OEKO-TEX Certified Inks
All inks used in printing The Dive Compass range are OEKO-TEX certified — tested free from harmful substances and safe for skin contact.

Person swimming underwater in a blue and white patterned swimsuit with coral reef in the background. Woman is wearing The Dive Compass rash guard with humpback whale print and bikini with coral reef print. Swimwear for scuba divers thta stays put under your wetsuit.

THIS IS WHY IT MATTERS

EVERY DECISION WE MAKE STARTS WITH THE SAME QUESTION: IS THIS GOOD FOR THE OCEAN?

We're not perfect. We're working toward better — in our materials, our production, our packaging, and our impact. And we're committed to being transparent about every step of that journey.

Learn more about how your purchase plants a coral through our Save Our Seas Pledge, or read the story behind the brand on our Our Mission page.

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