I just love Ecomask for teaching yoga and barre(and just every day use), it comes away from the bridge of my nose perfectly so the rest of the mask stays away from my face.  The material is comfortable and soft and it still has great coverage and is breathable! I love that the filter is sew in and the nose wire is sewn in so I don’t have to worry about that.  I got to chance to chat with the owner and creator of Ecomask, Laura, to learn more about this great product!

Bella- I don’t want to ask all of your secrets, but I haven’t seen another mask that fits the face so well but stays away from my mouth. Tell me more about how you came up with this shape?   

Laura– We studied at lots of different masks on the market and what we came to understand through research,so we based our mask shape on the N95 style. It was important for us to do this because we didn’t only want to have a sustainable mask we wanted to design a sustainable mask that will keep people safe. No trade offs. There are so many masks on the market and I can understand how people can get overwhelmed by making mask decisions. We recently wrote a blog post to help simplify things.   

Bella– And it’s well made.   

Laura– Manufacturing quality translates directly to longevity. When something is well made it will have a longer useful life and stay out of a landfill or recycling bin.  

Bella– So, when did your line first launch?

Laura– Ecomask launched online sales in October 2020. I never saw selling face masks on any vision board I’ve ever made but here we are.    

Bella– When did you guys first come up with this idea and how did it come about (besides COVID being a glaring reason), explain what sparked it please.     

Laura– For some context, I’ve spent the last 5 years living in Europe and working in manufacturing. In these last years I really dove deep into exploring sustainability in textiles and manufacturing. It’s a challenging landscape but through that work I built a lot of great partnerships like with ECONYL and Healthy Seas.

So, when I started to recognize all of the single use waste from masks piling up during the summer of 2020 I knew there had to be a better solution. In particular I found myself on a beach in Greece on an island with very few tourists and no known COVID cases and there were masks washing up all over the beaches. 

At first, I looked for something I could buy to be a responsible consumer. The cloth masks with replaceable filters were the most sustainable option I could find but after studying the data I realized there was a tradeoff – these masks weren’t as good at keeping you safe because air can just flow around a filter that’s not stitched into place.  

So our challenge became about materials and construction. In order to get the best filtration, we had to find a high quality filter that could be washed without a degradation of quality and to protect it with the right materials to keep it usable for a longer period of time. 

Bella-Was it challenging to source the materials?

Laura– Surprisingly not because of the partnerships I mentioned. We already knew what needed to be done, since no one else was doing it we set ourselves on making it happen. We paired our high quality FFP2 filter with ECONYL which is made from regenerated fishing nets and other nylon waste, and 100% recycled PET from water bottles. 

The ECONYL material is on the outside, it’s really durable and soft. It also has a UPF50 finish to protect your skin. On the innermost layer that touches your skin we use the recycled PET. This material is great because it is non abrasive and won’t dry out your skin. The one-two punch of “maskne” is dry skin that gets tiny abrasions from the mask which create a bacteria breeding ground. A friend of mine who is an esthetician gave this design a thumbs up

Bella– Is that something that you’ll come back to?

Laura– Yes, absolutely. Creating products with their end of life in mind has to be the way we design and manufacture as an industry going forward. If you’re only chasing profit at the sake of everything else, it’s not sustainable. As a global society none of us can afford to be doing things that aren’t creating those win-win-win opportunities.  

Bella– Did you sew prototype by hand or sewing machine or have someone make it from a sketch?  

Laura– Well, embarrassingly, I can’t sew. But, I worked with our manufacturing team and sewers who are very talented. They took the patterns from an N95 shape and built on that.

Bella– How long do you suggest someone use (or how many uses) before sending back to be recycled?  

Laura– We suggest replacing the mask after 3 months. It depends a bit on individual use. There’s no Cinderella moment where it will stop working all together. Until then, we recommend hand washing and air drying every week.

Bella– How did you find Healthy Seas as a partner for your line? 

Laura–  We’ve been working with Healthy Seas for a few years in other areas. We were originally drawn to them because of the closed loop manufacturing process they support. Healthy Seas is a nonprofit organization who protects marine life by collecting fishing nets from the ocean. I had a chance to join them on a dive in a small fishing community in Croatia and the work they do is so impressive. They’re all passionate volunteers. The fishing nets they collect are turned into brand new yarn by ECONYL. This beautiful high quality material can be used in textiles and carpets. It’s such a cool material because it can be used over and over with a loss of quality and without needing new natural resources. 

Bella– And it’s made from recycled materials but can also be sent back to be recycled? 

Laura–  Yes, we have a take back program so that people can return their used masks to us and then they will get recycled according to their individual components. 

Bella– Are you and husband equally involved or is this your project?  

Laura– I own and run Ecomask and the day to day of that business. My husband owns the manufacturing company who produces the masks. We work closely but we each have clear roles.   

Bella– And do these fit men pretty well?  

Laura– Absolutely! We offer 5 different sizes to accommodate everyone, and our XS and S sizes are for kids. 

Bella– What direction are you headed next with the company?   

Laura– We have a version 2.0 coming out soon. This mask will build on the original design but be adjustable and have a built in mask chain.

Bella- What is your mission and vision behind your company?

Laura– Our vision right from the beginning has been to make the most sustainable, comfortable and effective reusable face masks on the market to end mask trash.

Read more about Ecomask and their sustainability practices here.

Buy your Ecomask by clicking here or stay tuned to Bella’s Instagram for an announcement soon!

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