29/09/2026
Did you know that much of today’s athletic wear is made from the same material as a disposable plastic bottle: polyethylene terephthalate, or PET? In a beverage bottle, PET is rigid, often topped with a twist cap. In clothing, it’s spun into fine fibers that can be knit… perhaps into a cute cap!
Because they are the same material, single-use plastic can be recycled or, as we do at Tu Tiki, SUPcycled (SUP for Single Use Plastic… emphasis on the UP!). The process of converting beverage bottles into fiber is technically considered downcycling. This is because the single-use bottles that were used to create fibers were no longer considered food-safe enough to be turned into another single-use bottle, so they were “downcycled” into fiber.
At Tu Tiki, though, we strongly believe that taking a single-use bottle and turning it into a beloved piece of adventure wear that will last for years is UPcycling. So, SUPcycling is a play on the acronym for Single Use Plastic and a recognition that the creation of our activewear upcycles single-use plastic waste into long-lasting, well-loved garments.
Let’s consider the material, PET. It was not created to be disposed of. Plastic was created to be a durable material, a material that could withstand use after use or wear after wear. We should never have allowed its rerouting into the “disposable” realm. Tu Tiki attempts to correct this wrong by UPcycling single-use plastics into well-made, long-lasting apparel. So please, we invite you to make a difference by choosing Tu Tiki SUPcycled next time you need apparel.
Make a difference and a statement in Tu Tiki SUPcycled.
Clothing is one part of our work. On our website, visit Get Involved for other ways to help, or explore founder Tatiana’s Recovery Contingent Sales (RCS) policy proposal and share your thoughts. tu-tiki.com
Fair warning: your Tu Tiki may become the thing you wear three days straight, finally wash, and pull back on before it’s quite dry. Adventure doesn’t always wait for laundry.
Sarah is wearing our SUPcycled women's rash guard in size medium in our print "Plastic Picnic Blues".
