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If we’re going to save this planet, we’ve got to get serious about our environmental efforts like reducing single use plastic, cleaning the oceans, and building a more sustainable lifestyle. This is what Paul Strike and Jim Standing have set out to do with their company, Fourth Element. They met during a dive in the Red Sea in 1999. When they went out for a beer afterwards, they got to chatting about what they like (and didn’t like so much) about scuba diving. The dislike that stood out between them was that neither of them had yet found a dive suit that kept them warm enough during cold water dives to be fully comfortable. Right then and there, they discovered the opportunity to begin creating quality thermal dive gear, and thus Fourth Element was born. Now based in the United Kingdom, Paul and Jim have discovered groundbreaking technologies in thermal protection so that everyone can have more enjoyable and warmer dive experiences no matter what waters you’re in. On top of all that, Fourth Element is dedicated to making sure you’re buying dive gear that you’re confident isn’t harming the planet (all the way from the product to the packaging!). Scroll to the bottom of the page to learn more about Fourth Element’s sustainable practices and products.
Some of the most direct and efficient ways we can help slow down the effects of climate change are by ending the use and production of single use plastics and by cleaning our oceans. Fourth Element is committed to that cause in more ways than one.
By bringing performance and sustainability together, Fourth Element has designed wetsuits, drysuits, swimwear, and more through their OceanPositive collection that has been made from at least 76% recycled ghost nets and other post-consumer waste. Beyond that, they began a project called Mission 2020 that pledges to eliminate single use plastic packaging from their products by World Oceans Day 2020 and to continue to develop quality products using recycled materials. While Mission 2020 is an original project of Fourth Element’s, the project has grown to bring hundreds of companies together in making planet preserving pledges of their own. Additionally, they also collaborate with and support other earth conscious projects like the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, the Reef-World Foundation, the Olive Ridley Project, the Coral Restoration Foundation, World Animal Protection, and Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation.
In order to save our planet, we have to truly understand the impact of what we’re buying. Purchasing from companies like Fourth Element that are committed to getting our planet healthy and keeping it that way is what conscious consumerism is all about. If you want clean, healthy oceans to explore now and in the future, connect yourself to a cause and a company that seeks to do just that.
You want an enjoyable dive experience where being too cold isn’t standing in the way of a good time. At the same time, we don’t want to be warm because of the water’s rising temperatures from climate change, we want to be warm because we have quality and sustainable performance dive gear. Fourth Element is committed to keeping you warm and the earth cool by cleaning our oceans and creating functional and innovative wetsuits and apparel with recycled materials.
