2003
‘The First Choice Teamwear Brand for Any Athlete at Any Level’
From the start we set out to deliver a brand that provided quality, reliability and great designs. From our inception, we had a desire to be different. We wanted to actively change the industry’s mindset from disposable to one that puts affordable quality first.
2005
We grew. We began to understand that we could do more than just deliver quality products. Our first pilot run of PET recycled fabric used was a huge success. Eco Fit™ was trade marked and our drive to be more environmentally conscious became a key part of our Tsunami brand.
In our efforts to reduce our CO2 emissions from shipping of goods, we consolidated deliveries from key suppliers and introduced a twice a week delivery system. This did not compromise the quality of delivery or service and was well received by customers.
We redesigned our packaging by introducing biodegradable plastic and a zip lock strip for easy reuse. As technology in biodegradable plastic advanced, our distinctive bag design stayed the same but its environmental impact was greatly reduced.
From a customer suggestion, we introduced folding our socks in half to reduce the size of the packaging. It is sometimes the simplest changes that make a big difference! On the success of this approach, we also removed the plastic hanger, which had been standard part of our sock packaging, to further reduce unnecessary waste. Our Zip lock bags were also reduced in size by 15%, but still able to fit a pair of size 14 shoes!
2006
Bradbury School (Hong Kong) and Kaiapoi Borough School (New Zealand) became the first schools to adopt our custom developed, recycled fabric Eco Fit™ for their full school PE uniforms. This valued change of fabric, at those progressive environmental concerned schools, reinforced our belief and commitment to develop excellent Eco products at an affordable price. It was a real success in our drive to partner and collaborate with our suppliers and clients, to further our ECO mission.
2007-2008
New branding opened the door for us to modernize and minimize our trims and packaging. We created iron-on labels made with recycled materials and our hang tags were printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. We completed this step by sourcing recycled plastic tags to attach to our products. We also made the decision to no longer use print media in our marketing channels. Catalogues and flyers were no longer used as a channel to showcase our products and offerings.
We then focused our drive to substitute our block fabrics with sublimatable fabrics. This reduced the amount of wasted fabric and the amount of dyes being used to bond our core colours. This also gave us the opportunity to offer our customers greater design and colour options. From that moment our Custom Shop team was born.
2011-2013
With our entry into the water sports market with our new recycled rashies and board shorts, we became more passionate in reducing the growing threats of plastic in our oceans and water sources. The entire Tsunami team volunteered to join the coastal clean up program in Hong Kong and remains one of our important community service activities.
We achieved our first fully Eco event apparel range at the Bali 10s. All off-field support apparel and merchandise was made from recycled materials an we began to lead the way with Eco friendly water bottles for all on-field competitors. We suggested to the event water sponsors to share in our ECO drive by providing water dispensers at the event, rather than individual bottled water. This reduced the number of plastic bottles used at the Bali 10s by over 500 bottles, a small but motivating difference.
2014-2015
Australian International School (Singapore) become the next progressive academic institution to convert their school uniforms to our Eco Fit™ fabrics.
We reviewed and refocused our recycling conviction with our partner factories to improve on our environmentally friendly inks, as well as pursued better recycling opportunities for the used sublimation paper.
We reassessed our supplier base as we consolidated closer partnerships with our key suppliers, seeking and finding partners who believed in our brand values of reliability, sustainability, quality and great designs. We outlined our vision for improvements in the whole value chain affecting our environmental footprint, staff working conditions and well-being, so that our partners would share and commit to our company values and goals.
2016
We launched our Team/ Club/ School custom ordering site, designed to provide support in reducing stock levels and wasted products.
We removed all our hang tags from our teamwear products, further reducing our paper, ink and carbon footprint.
We introduced the ‘return your bags’ policy to encourage clubs, schools and organizations to send back our bags so we can reuse them.
2017
We investigated emerging technologies of biodegradable fabric. It was ambitious, but we also thought re-purposing plastic into fabric for awesome sportswear was, too! This long-term project saw us test our first additive PET pellets with positive results.
Alongside this we also began testing security additives that will allow tractability of the source of our fabrics. This provided absolute assurance that our supply chain was not compromised and that we delivered on our ECO undertakings.
We brought our factory storage and packaging facility into effect, allowing pick and pack delivery and consolidated packing, providing customer convenience and reduced delivery needs.
We partnered up with the Green Dragons movement to provide water-based sports teams with discounted kits for utilising our Eco Fit™ fabrics. In conjunction with this relationship we committed to making a 5% donation for these orders to the Plastic Free Seas organisation, a Hong Kong based environmental charity.
2018
Our most active year to date.
Our new standard packaging saw us increase the size of our bags by 30%. Why you ask? Our average customer orders over three items, which can be accommodated in the larger bags. We reduced our usage by two bags with the 30% increase in size. This initiative also complemented the Pick & Pack service.
We completely removed plastic with our new sock packaging.
The long-term dream of a sustainable and focus on circularity within the teamwear and uniform industry started to take shape. We stepped up our goals in educating our diverse client base of schools, corporate and teams. We aimed to re-purpose the collected plastic waste into the PET pellets used for yarn. Starting with discarded plastic products and garments in our associated schools and finally bringing back as a new, high quality, customised finished product.
We began working with NGOs, such as the V-Cycle organisation in Hong Kong, in supporting their 10 Tonne plastic collection challenge.
The “Iron on Labels” were slowly being phased out. The ability to remove any waste from the embellishments on our garments became reality. Using our bio inks to brand the sizing of the garments is now the norm.
We began the #shirtandstraw campaign. The most iconic single use plastic item is the straw. So we committed to providing metal straws with our school uniform shirts.
We have had schools who have supported our goals from the very start. So we choose to look back at those that supported us in our drive to change the industry mindset. We quantified the volume of plastic bottles they have re-purposed, providing certificates showcasing their great support to this change in uniform and goal to make a change for the greater good.
We hit over 2.9 MILLION Bottles re-purposed. We are crazy proud of this!
2019
We launched our new website, which is not only our showcase for our Products and Services but also reinforces our ECO commitment and mission.
Seems the world is waking up about the impact of fashion on our environment. The BBC Earth Around Us spelt it out in truly incredible footage. Check it out >>
Hit the 4 Million plastic bottle saved from landfill.
National 7 s Cook Islands wear our ECO fabric Kit at this Year Hong Kong International Sevens – a major factor for them is their counties commitment to making a difference with Climate Change.
2020
What a year, with the world in lockdown and sports, schools and events hit hard, it was a very tough environment but our team and suppliers fully supported our efforts and initiatives to overcome the challenges many companies faced.
We crashed through the 5 Million bottle repurposed in the early apart of year thanks to our growing list of schools making sustainable ECO decisions for their Kit procurement . We changed our packaging to innovative “Aquasolit” bags made out of plasticised PVAL/ PVA/ PVOL (Polyvinyl alcohol) and starch, two biodegradable polymers.
Our global reach extended to new customers in Finland and Saudi Arabia and we set up a country office in New Zealand.
2021……..
The world still reeling from the the COVID pandemic as well as abnormal weather conditions – face masks now part of everyday life and many of our customers have ordered complementary masks for their kit, especially schools where reusable masks cut down on the enormous waste the disposable products are causing.
Great to see the Olympics taking place and full credit to Japan for making it one of the most ECO games yet, including the Medals made from waste electronic waste. Its ideas like that which we embrace.