If you are selecting the BUNDLE OF 3, please specify your preferred face mask colors in the Order Notes section of your Shopping Cart. We will try our best to accommodate color requests, but due to limited stocks on hand, serving of requests will be subject to availability.
In an effort to help reduce COVID-19/single-use plastic waste and to help make a living while the pandemic is ongoing, artisans from Catanduanes Island in Bicol, Philippines re-purposed their production of abaca paper craft products into abaca-based face masks.
Abaca face masks are:
• An eco-friendly, sustainable alternative to disposable and reusable face masks
• Biodegradable
• Washable
• Reusable
• Organic
• Lightweight
As reported by Bloomberg, abaca is as strong as polyester – but unlike polyester, it can decompose in just two months.
Recent studies by the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology (DOST) show that abaca-based face masks have a filtration rate 7x better than cloth masks and have a lower water absorption rate. An abaca face mask is more water resistant than a commercial N-95 mask due to its pore size that ranges from 10 to 70μm, nearly as good as a standard surgical mask.
This piece uses abaca, the strongest of all natural fibers. As a sustainable fiber native to the Philippines, abaca is highly durable, flexible, and resistant to salt water damage.
The Philippines is the largest producer of abaca in the world, with majority of the supply from Catanduanes Island in the Bicol Region. Abaca is most commonly used to make things like teabags and banknotes.
