Green Your Sportswear
A deep welling of passion and strong connection between people and sports have grown rapidly and led to internationalization developed in sports. One of the examples can be sportswear industry. Sportswear is not only made for exercising but also for a crucial part of everyday fashion, and so many big sports brands have developed strong international production market for sportswear. In the moment that climate change is affecting our daily life, how can we make a more ethical decision on purchasing sportswear? Therefore, I am going to share some green options with you so that we can make our sportswear more sustainable.
Organic Cotton
Cotton is a natural textile which is the most common use in the fabric. The traditional cotton production requires a huge amount of water and pesticides which harm the nature environment and human health. On the contrary, organically growing cotton does not require enormous amount of pesticides and fertilizers which is more sustainable. In order to meet the performance of sportswear, cotton garments usually combine with polyesters or other synthetics to be more comfortable and breathable. Combing organic cotton with polyesters and synthetics also can shorten the long production time required for growing organic cotton. Even though organic cotton still requires a lot of water during the manufacturing process, as more companies started contributing to environmental sustainability, some industries started the innovation of reducing water waste during manufacturing. At the end of the life cycle, 100% organic cotton made clothes are also biodegradable that has no harm to the environment.
Organic Hemp
Hemp fabrics, a great substitution of cotton, are less stretchy, but it is UV protected and breathable that can still apply for casual sportswear instead of sports performance. Comparing with other crops, the growth of hemp, which is high yielding and carbon negative, requires no pesticides and fertilizers and uses much less water and land. A number shows that hemp can return 60 – 70% of nutrients back to the soil. Many farmers still use fertilizers to let the growth of hemp even faster that can be harmful to the environment, so it is important to choose brands that use organic hemp made clothes.
Bamboo
Bamboo fabrics, as another good substitution of cotton, are stretchy, UV protected, odor resisting, breathable, and insulating which are properties that sportswear requires. Bamboo now is one of the most eco-friendly textiles, because it has a high growth rate and barely requires pesticides and fertilizers. Hodkel mentioned Even though the process of transforming raw bamboo to rayon fabrics can require a lot of chemicals, there are ways to avoid this toxic process by using lyocell-like bamboo cellulose fabric instead which does not generate chemical substances. For the environment, bamboo releases 35% more oxygen into the atmosphere comparing with the same amount of normal trees.
Tencel ™
Tencel TM, an excellent source of sustainable clothes that are compostable and biodegradable, uses renewable wood-based fibers. Tencel TM cellulous fibers made activewear which can be used for general wear and moderate exercise can transport moisture and keep the body temperature cool. Tencel TM has also partnered with many sports brand such as Patagonia, New Balance, Athleta, etc., so you can find a lot of Tencel fiber made activewear through these brands. Tencel TM takes responsibility on both environment and social aspects in their sustainable supply chain by having a closed loop production process and promoting social wellbeing.
Wool
Wool with properties of renewable, durable, moisture-wicking, breathable, and biodegradable is mostly used for winter sportswear. Wool has high dry capacity that can keep the moisture away from the body, and it usually combines with polyester in outside layer so that wool can absorb moisture and polyester can transport the vapor out. However, wool production causes land degradation, more greenhouse gases emission, and decreasing biodiversity. Patagonia has been playing a leadership role in sustainable sportswear for decades, and they have made their wool production more sustainable through the supply chain based on their own standard for animal welfare and land management. One example can be that Patagonia rotates among different pastures for sheep grazing so grass has time to recover. Overall, clothes made from wool last longer and do not require frequently wash, so it is a great option for sustainable sportswear.
Coffee-Reinforced Fabric
Coffee reinforced fabric, an innovative technology, has good permeability for air and moisture-transfer due to coffee beans being porous, and a company called S. Café are marketing clothing products made from waste coffee grounds. S. Café combines coffee grounds into yarn surface to produce fabrics with high performance that are fast dry, UV protection, odor control, low condensation rate, etc. For different sportswear and other types of clothing products, they use different cutting-edge technologies to meet different purposes. Even though coffee reinforced technology is relatively new, it has a potential market for sportswear in the future due to the pressure of climate change.
Recycled material
Fast fashion has pushed over-production growing nonstop, and petroleum-based chemical fabrics are the mainstream of the manufacturing. Besides finding ways during the production process, we can always utilize sportswear at the end of their life cycle. Recycling textiles, especially polyester, has been undertaken by many big sports companies, such as Nike, Adidas, Patagonia, and so on. Nike has developed different sustainable initiatives, for example, “Move to Zero” focuses on zero waste and zero carbon by utilizing waste materials. Nike’s sustainability page has pointed that they have made all the football kits from waste plastic bottles and eliminated about 7.5 billion plastic bottles from landfills. By partnering with Parley, Adidas has been producing shoes from waste ocean plastic. Company like Patagonia has its own program called Worn Wear which allows them to purchase used products for their own designed stores. Patagonia has also been producing their apparels from recycled cotton and other waste materials. When you purchase products from these sports brands, you can easily find products which are made from recycled materials and learn about their sustainability missions on their website. Recycling and utilizing waste material is water and energy-efficient and cost-effective during manufacturing, and it will be a significant move in sustainable fashion industry
Donating, Reselling, and Purchasing Second-hand
In addition to recycling textiles, sportswear can be reused as second or third hand products that can slow down amount of wasted products going into landfills, cutting down use of energy resources, and reducing greenhouse gas emission. Donating your old sportswear to second-hand stores, poverty communities, and companies that generate new clothes from old ones. Also, there are plenty of options that allow you to resell used clothes online, so you can earn some pocket money from that! Purchasing your sportswear from second-hand stores in either physical stores or online stores can help you save a lot of money. A lot of people think that it is hard to find nice clothes in second-hand stores, but there are always great options if you pay attention; especially with a good price, why not take a little bit more time?
Fashion industry uses enormous amount of water and is a big contributor of water contamination and greenhouse gases emission, so a slow fashion movement is going to be a necessary trend to help with the climate crisis. A lot of sports companies have started their sustainability development that created a potential future market for green sportswear. While the action of the whole fashion industry is important toward sustainability, individuals also need to be ethical about each purchase.
Check the clothes label to determine the material use
Check the brand you purchase from to learn about their sustainability practice in their whole supply chain
Donate / resell used clothes
Purchase from second-hand store
Here are some green sportswear brands you can consider:
Adidas Athleta BAM (Bamboo Clothing) Girlfriend Collective Nike Outdoor Voices Patagonia Puma Tasc Performance Wolven