The folks at Costa Sunglasses have unveiled an updated version of their Untangled Collection that features frames made in a new way from old fishing nets.
Costa has partnered with Bureo, makers of NetPlus, to evolve the Pargo, Santiago, Antille and Caleta frames in the Untangled Collection.
The new frames, born from old nets, feature NetPlus material crafted with a new technique that delivers a smooth matte finish. Each is made of 97% recycled fishing nets, giving new life to one of the most harmful forms of ocean plastic pollution.
Designed with both style and performance in mind, the evolved Untangled Collection is also available in Costa’s latest 580G Gold Mirror Lens.
According to Robbie LaBelle, global vice president of marketing at Costa:
“The ocean covers approximately 70% of Earth’s surface and it’s time we acknowledge that there’s so much more we can do to protect it. We’re proud to be Bound by Blue and our intent is simple: take care of the ocean that takes care of us.”
Ghost nets, which are large tangled masses of lost or discarded fishing nets made of plastic, routinely snag on the shallow coral reefs of the Hawaiian islands, smothering and breaking the living coral colonies.
In August 2022, one single trawl net a team of freedivers discovered at Kamokuokamohoali’i was found plastered across nearly 200 feet/61m of reef by the ocean currents and had smothered much of the living coral underneath it. These nets also pose a major entanglement hazard for most marine wildlife, most notably the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, of which only 1,500 remain. Hawaiian green sea turtles (honu) and many species of seabirds are also vulnerable to this threat.
