Boston Globe

A Pennsylvania-born and -raised woman — now an international schoolteacher in South Korea — took her love of turning trash into eye-catching patterns and created a new line of women’s activewear that work for all types of adventures. Tatiana Heckles, owner of Tu Tiki Designs, started making lightweight SPF-rated swimwear and leggings a few years ago, then noticed all the plastic garbage on the beaches near her home on Jeju Island. This month, the one-woman company has released a new line of leggings with fabrics derived from recycled single-use-plastics (SUPcycled materials) — to raise awareness and turn single-use plastics littering ocean shores into wearable items that last for many uses. These leggings — which blend SUPcycled materials, high-tech Korean spandex, and water-based dyes that are vegan and plastisol-free — offer a compression-like fit without any pinch points (meaning no overly grippy waistbands) so you can climb, bike, hike, swim, and adventure in comfort. The fun and colorful designs depict the materials from which they originated: You’ll see artful geometric prints showing plastic water jugs, straws, bottle caps, or take-out containers. A new line of SUPcycled swim tops and bottoms will launch this summer and Tu Tiki’s original leggings and swimwear will soon transition to the same summer-weight recycled fabric used in Lululemon’s Fast and Free leggings. All products available worldwide and include flat-rate shipping costs of $3.99 for the United States and $4.99 for the rest of the world. $72-$98 leggings; $54-$68 swimwear. www.tu-tiki.com

KARI BODNARCHUK

Kari Bodnarchuk can be reached at travelwriter@karib.us.

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