Vantage Apparel Commits to Cleaner Oceans in More Ways Than One
Just in time for Earth Day, Avenel, New Jersey-based Vantage Apparel donates its 1% For The Planet Pledge to Clean Ocean Action, a nonprofit committed to protecting marine life and coastal environments. The custom logoed apparel and fulfillment provider has worked with Clean Ocean Action for three years — donating more than $30,000 since the beginning of the program, Gina Barreca, director of marketing, Vantage Apparel, tells Apparelist.
Pieces from the Vantage Earthwise collection. | Credit: Vantage Apparel
The donation came from sales of Vantage’s sustainable Earthwise Collection, which features styles made with Repreve recycled fiber. In the last three years, the collection has kept more than 1 million post-consumer plastic bottles from landfills and oceans, according to a press release from the company.
“We are committed to doing our part to help protect our planet, and we believe that Clean Ocean Action is doing important work in keeping our oceans clean and healthy,” said Vantage Apparel President Ira Neaman. “We’re proud to support their efforts and to make a positive impact on the environment.”
Neaman, Barreca, and Senior VP Eric Wukitsch personally delivered the donation to Clean Ocean Action’s headquarters in Long Branch, New Jersey.
“Vantage Apparel’s donation makes a big splash to help our organization in our efforts to protect the world’s ocean,” said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, in a press release. “We’re most grateful for their support and partnership in this important work.”
Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps
Vantage Apparel’s 1% For The Planet Pledge is just one way the company does its part to reduce its environmental impact. The company also participates in Beach Sweeps alongside Clean Ocean Action.
“We wanted to find a local organization where our associates could be involved with something that has global impact,” Barreca tells Apparelist. Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps aim to “clean up litter and debris from the beaches and shorelines of New Jersey.”
The sweeps happen twice per year — in spring and fall — and Barreca says they’re “the largest environmental volunteer effort of its kind” in New Jersey. Since the sweeps launched in 1985, volunteers of all ages have helped remove over 6.9 million pieces of debris from New Jersey’s beaches and waterways.
“The data collected during these Beach Sweeps are used to generate annual reports on the state of the New Jersey beaches and to advocate for policies that help protect and preserve the ocean and its ecosystems,” Barreca explains.