For most of us around the world, wetsuits are a necessity to getting out on and staying in or under the water. There’s an emotional element too - these slippery suits allow us to spend hundreds of hours doing what we love - our pleasures and past times - surfing, supping, diving, snorkelling, foiling, kiting, body-boarding and sailing.

But like many modern textiles, neoprene doesn’t come with an easy end-of-life solution.

Our old wetsuits are rarely recycled, often burned or ending up in landfill.

So what happens when someone decides that isn’t good enough?

Let’s speak with Emma and Peter from Circular Flow — a team working to crack one of the watersports industry’s toughest waste problems by collecting, recycling, and re-using old wetsuits with the aim of creating a genuinely circular material.

In this episode, we’ll dig into why neoprene has traditionally been so hard to deal with, what it takes to build a closed-loop system, and how we, us sailors, surfers, divers etc, can get involved.

Connecting young people to water, the sea, is a topic so close to our hearts. As the bodies of research around ‘Blue Health’ in particular have grown, we better understand that time spent on or near water has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, promoting emotional resilience and improved mental well-being.

For children and young people - it can be teamwork, confidence-building, inclusion and self-esteem and bigger still - dreams, hopes and ambitions.

Here’s Greg Bertish, Founder of The Little Optimist Trust & Sailing Therapy Academy in Cape Town, to help us understand more.

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Sir Robin Knox-Johnston made history in 1968-69 as the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world, an achievement that secured his legendary status in the sailing world. He then co-founded Clipper Ventures, established the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1996, transforming ocean racing by making it accessible to everyday people with no previous sailing experience. Through the Clipper Race, he has introduced thousands and thousands of people to offshore racing —an accomplishment he considers among his greatest achievements.

Beyond Clipper, Sir Robin's personal sailing achievements continue to be extraordinary. At 68, he became the oldest yachtsman to complete a solo round-the-world voyage in the Velux 5 Oceans Race; he won the Jules Verne Trophy with Peter Blake in 1994; at age 75, he finished third in the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race in 2014, proving that his competitive fire and seamanship has remain undimmed.

As a life-long ocean appreciator, Sir Robin's strong penchant for high latitude sailing, namely around the reaches of the Arctic Circle, continues to expand his lifelong, exceptional insight into our changing oceans and climate.

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This sailor and podcast guest needs no introduction, but he deserves one.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston made history in 1968-69 as the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world, an achievement that secured his legendary status in the sailing world. He then co-founded Clipper Ventures, established the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1996, transforming ocean racing by making it accessible to everyday people with no previous sailing experience. Through the Clipper Race, he has introduced thousands and thousands of people to offshore racing —an accomplishment he considers among his greatest achievements.

Beyond Clipper, Sir Robin's personal sailing achievements continue to be extraordinary. At 68, he became the oldest yachtsman to complete a solo round-the-world voyage in the Velux 5 Oceans Race; he won the Jules Verne Trophy with Peter Blake in 1994; at age 75, he finished third in the Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race in 2014, proving that his competitive fire and seamanship has remain undimmed.

As a life-long ocean appreciator, Sir Robin's strong penchant for high latitude sailing, namely around the reaches of the Arctic Circle, continues to expand his lifelong, exceptional insight into our changing oceans and climate.

When it comes to sustainability, sailing and marine has faced scrutiny like most other industries, notably on the topic of end-of-life materials.

Since 1996, Quantum Sails has been working on sail design, technology and production, now with more than 60 sail lofts around the world.

Tune in to hear Lara Poljšak, Director of Sustainability at Quantum Sails discuss the progress and obstacles in being a sustainable sailmaker today.

We've explored the changing Arctic in a couple of our our Clean Sailors podcasts to date, but what about Antarctica and the Southern Ocean; what is it like and how is it changing?

There is no other sailor to ask than Skip Novak - from Antarctica, Patagonia, South Georgia, the Northwest passage, Falklands, Atlantic, Pacific to the South Sandwich Islands, Svalbard, Spitsbergen: you name it, Skip has sailed it, and has sailed the most sea miles of any other sailor, alive or dead.

Tune in to this episode to hear more on Skip's lifetime of sailing and, importantly, how the southern-most, at times most-formidable region of our planet, Antarctica, has been shifting.

The marine industry, and superyachting in particular, is renowned for cultivating exceptional skills and high standards. In this episode, Holly sits down with Sam Stewart, founder of the Relief Crew Foundation. After a successful career in superyachting himself, Sam began bridging the gap between skilled yacht crews and impactful humanitarian and environmental projects around the globe.

Discover how a life-changing experience inspired Sam to create incredible opportunities for sailors and superyacht professionals to give back with purpose.

Doyle Sails is one of the most competitive sailmakers on the planet. With the likes of SailGP as one of the main classes they serve, it's fair to say they've got some of the coolest clients and coolest technology around.

How are the team addressing sailmaking in our modern world, in view of sustainability?

In this multi-million dollar market, what are the stakes as new rules and regulations slowly arrive regarding end-of-life?

Tune in to hear Harri Wren, Global Operations and Brand Manager talk us through sustainability at Doyle Sails.