Our Product
Everyone who makes a living in the outdoors has a responsibility to take care of it. Clean water means healthier fisheries, and at Bajío, we know that sustainability starts at the source. We prioritize energy efficient and non-toxic manufacturing processes as well as the reduction of plastic and other waste from our production stream, to help in our mission of having the smallest impact on the environment while making the best fishing sunglasses in the world. Some companies buy offsets at the end of the year to claim carbon neutrality but we’re focused on cutting our emissions right from the start. We're all about reducing our impact, not just covering it up.
Sunglasses
We want to make the best sunglasses in the world, but that isn’t enough. We want to figure out how to operate a fully sustainable business, all while selling hundreds of thousands of shades. We’ve figured a few things out, but we’ll never stop improving our processes and our products.
Our frames are made from sustainable, bio-based, high-performance nylon. All of our frames, lenses, cases, and hats are free from PFAS (“forever chemicals”). This doesn't mean they’ll crumble in your hands, it means if they do sink to the bottom of the ocean they’ll bio-degrade before they’re found by ancient aliens. Our metal frames are made from all stainless steel with all non toxic coatings, for you, and for the planet.
Factories
Our partner factories are industry pioneers– cutting edge, both technologically and environmentally. Using premium components, we cut, grind, and assemble the final product here in Florida.
More than half of our frames are produced in carbon negative factories; not only are their operations carbon neutral, but they actually sell power back to the grid. Our factory in Europe replaced their previous hydraulic injection machines with more energy efficient, electric powered machines. Then put solar panels on the roof to power them. When they had to expand their factory to fit our growing needs, they refurbished and remodeled an existing structure, rather than build over fertile land used for farming and growing food.
Cases
If you’ve been with us since day one you’ll notice our packaging has changed four times. Why? We keep sourcing new materials, all with reduced carbon impacts and/or increased sustainability. At first we had leather, a by-product of the meat industry, utilizing a resource that would otherwise be discarded. Then a cactus farmer from Mexico approached us about a new process for producing cactus leather. We gave that a go until we found another solution closer to home, recycled plastic. Now we’re on our fourth generation case, fully sustainable cotton covers with a leather lining. We figured out how to turn leather scraps into full sheets with this one, but when we find the next one we’ll be quick to make the switch.
Process
Like our owner Al Perkinson said, “We’re a manufacturing company, you won't find a Mercedes in our parking lot”. At the root of it all we really are. Yeah we do some cool projects, show y’all some cool photos and videos, but deep down we are makers. And we make hundreds of sunglasses a day right here in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where we’ve refined our in-house processes to lessen our footprint on the earth.
We ship all of our goods sustainably. We use paper packing filler, 100% recycled boxes, printed with algae ink, and even our tape is paper-based (no plastic fiber).
Where others use hundreds of gallons of water and discard it as they go, we figured out how to run a centrifuge filter, reducing our water usage to just 30 gallons a week. Then found suppliers and partners that would actually recycle our waste. The only true waste we produce is that from our kitchen, and the occasional Friday 3PM beer round. Even when we inspect your shades and deem them unrepairable, we recycle those too.
We’re not perfect but we’re active, aware, and always evolving. We’re aiming to become more sustainable as we grow, and so far we’ve been doing just that– so that our next gen can enjoy the fisheries we put it all on the line for.
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