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About a decade ago, Patagonia began to replace neoprene with Yulex, the brand name for a natural rubber produced by drought-resistant Hevea trees and Guayule plants grown on non-arable land.

The market is currently dominated by rubber sourced from Hevea brasiliensis trees in Southeast Asia, and it’s hard for guayule in the U.S. to compete with those large operations, which have lower labor costs.

Fungal infestations of monocultured Hevea trees have caused steep drops in global natural rubber supplies in recent years.

Because only a small amount of guayule is currently grown, it wouldn’t be able to compete with Hevea rubber on a broad scale for some time, says Katrina Cornish, who studies alternative rubber sources at the Ohio State University.

It’s also hypoallergenic, unlike latex derived from Hevea trees.