By Brianne Hogan / Source: Ecorazzi

Scientists in California have teamed up with design firm Eray/Carbajo to create a new kind of eco-beachwear that absorbs harmful contaminants.

They call it the SpongeSuit — an itsy bitsy bikini that hopes to make a small, but powerful, impact on ocean pollution.

The suit, which is derived from heated sucrose, can absorb up to 25 times its own weight in pollutants, thanks to its highly porous structurethat actually repels water while it absorbs everything else (including the bad stuff in our oceans).

According to Mihri Ozkan, an electrical engineering professor at UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering who helped developed the material along with her husband, Cengiz, said the “super material” is not harmful to the environment and is cost-effective — which is good news because bikini prices tend to run pretty high. And don’t worry — the scientists assure that swimmers who don the suits will not absorb the chemicals. The contaminants will be stored in the inner pores of the material and, thus, won’t be able to touch the skin.

With 260,000 tons of plastic currently clogging our oceans and thousands of oil and chemical spills affecting the U.S. yearly — not to mention the fact that humans are pushing the ocean into extinction — now is the perfect time to help the oceans that we so thoroughly enjoy (if not take for granted).

As Inanc Eray, founding architect at Eray/Carbajo, told The Huffington Post: “Why not create an environmentally proactive swimwear and clean as you swim?”

Pair the suit, which won first place at RESHAPE’s 2015 Wearable Technology Competition, with your new Adidas kicks made from recycled ocean waste, and you’ll really make an eco-fashion splash.

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