Costa Sunglasses® was honored for earning the Volusia Manufacturers Association (VMA) 2018 Social Responsibility Award and the Green Award at the VMA 2018 Awards Banquet on Dec. 13 at the Daytona Beach Hilton.
Costa’s Untangled Collection earned the VMA Social Responsibility Award for its “full circle” use of fishing nets-to-glasses which aligns with VMA’s mission to award companies that emphasize sustainability, long-term impact, and involvement in activities beyond financial contributions.
Costa earned the Green Award for its Kick Plastic initiative, and its focus on eliminating plastic through both internal and external programs. VMA’s Green Award is known for recognizing a company with practices and policies that show sustainability and environmental leadership. Companies were judged on their relationships with their workers, customers, and communities as well as their overall impact on society.
“We are so honored to receive these awards from the VMA, and from the community we’ve called home for 35 years,” said Holly Rush, CEO of Costa. “Healthy oceans are such a vital part of our local landscape, our economy and our brand and we believe it’s our responsibility to protect and preserve them. The Untangled Collection and Kick Plastic are initiatives that speak directly to our mission to protect what we love and were directly inspired by the passion of our employees at Costa.”
This is the first-time Costa has received the VMA Social Responsibility Award and Green Award and is one of several industry awards The Untangled Collection has received since its launch in May.
The Untangled Collection was created in partnership with Bureo, pioneers in recycled fishnet products. Identified as the most harmful form of ocean plastic, discarded fishing nets and gear account for ten percent of ocean plastic pollution, which grows by an estimated 640,000 tons every year. Bureo’s Net+Plus recycling program is working to prevent fishing net pollution by partnering directly with fishermen to collect discarded nets at their end of life and providing funds to local communities for every pound of fishing net collected. Costa’s Untangled Collection supports Bureo’s ongoing efforts to generate a net positive impact for this once harmful material. To date, the Bureo team has collected more than 220,000 pounds of discarded fishing nets.
The collection features both sunglasses and optical frames made from 100 percent recycled fishing nets, each featuring recycled aluminum Costa logos, PLUSfoam recyclable temple and nose pads, and a unique tumbled finish. All sunglasses also feature Costa’s patented 580 Lightwave® Glass lenses, providing 100 percent UV protection and polarization to offer the clearest lenses on the planet..
The Kick Plastic campaign launched in 2014 in response to a growing plastic pollution problem impacting oceans and waterways. As an organization committed to conservation, Costa felt compelled to be part of a positive change. A comprehensive internal assessment and employee task force yielded significant impact including a 60 percent reduction in plastics used in packaging and over nine tons of plastic lenses now recycled each year. In 2015, Costa launched the Kick Plastic Guide & Outfitter Program, which has removed more than one million single-use plastic water bottles from guide boats throughout North America. The program continues to grow both nationally and internationally.
The Kick Plastic initiative along with Costa’s Untangled Collection represent the company’s next step in finding impactful, sustainable ways to help eliminate plastic pollution from our oceans and waterways.
The Untangled Collection is available at retailers now. For more information visit www.CostaSunglasses.com/UntangleOurOceans. And, for more information about the Kick Plastic campaign, visit www.costadelr.com/KickPlastic.
