BAY Active – winner of the Social Responsibility Award (Fitness)

BAY Active’s mission is to create the highest-performance active and yoga wear in organic, natural and closed-loop regenerated fabrics. Their supply chain is entirely transparent, from field to finished product, mitigating waste and ensuring all operations are certified wherever socially possible, and all wages are either award, or above award. 

Australian-owned and made, the knitting facility BAY Active works with in Melbourne is a world leader in the recycling of precious greywater. The fit-out in their Byron Bay flagship store is almost entirely created from repurposed fixtures and salvaged materials. In-store carry bags are compostable Dirt Bags, and they opt for either paper mailers, or compostable bags when fulfilling online orders. 

Their collections are offered in an inclusive size range of 6 – 18 representing today’s modern woman, and are built to stand the test of time. With an emphasis on being built to last, the collections will serve well into the future.

BAY Active opt to use only organic cotton, natural, or regenerated fibres. Wherever possible, the end product is not packaged at all, or is packaged in a compostable alternative. The company uses absolutely no single-use plastics.

Helen Carroll, Founder and CEO, says, “…after decades of working in design and retail, I began to wonder where all of the world’s clothes were actually coming from, and where they eventually ended up. When I took a closer look, I discovered a labyrinth of modern-day slavery and inequity that just stopped me in my tracks,” she says. “To see the lives of garment workers, some of our world’s least fortunate people, I realised the retail model I was working in was contributing to a humanitarian and environmental fallout.

“It became clear to me there was a different business case to be had, one that fostered awareness and responsible attitudes toward our people and our planet. One that embraced fair work practices, that mitigated pollution and waste and cared for our agriculture. I found that place again where I learnt the rules of the game, that’s where BAY Active was born.”