Clothing is one of society’s great storytellers.

We dress ourselves according to personal tastes, professions, culture, community, religious beliefs, and, increasingly, our values. Soccer fans understand this as well as anyone. The jerseys we wear broadcast our sports allegiances and passions, our fond memories, and the places we’ve traveled. Clothing can be meaningful or vapid, a source of pride, or leave us feeling remorseful.

For a soccer club, the purpose of apparel is typically to drive additional revenue and provide supporters with something tangible that allows them to show their allegiance to the club. This is all well and good, but is that all there is to it? No, friends, there is much, much more to it. 

The clothing we wear and how we dispose of it has a massive impact on the environment and the well-being of the workers who make it. This is due to some bad models. The business model is premised on unlimited growth. The production model is a linear take, make, use, and waste. Marketing is typically intended to convince us we need more wardrobe changes throughout the year than Broadway. This has had spectacular results for the fashion industry – as of 2018, the industry was valued at 2.5 trillion dollars. The results for the environment and workers have been breathtaking for other reasons.

The first place to start is to investigate your wardrobe and ask some basic questions. We started this way and here’s roughly how that went:

  • Where is this t-shirt from? It says Bangladesh, and it turns out that garment workers, primarily women, in Bangladesh make about $96 per month. The government’s wage board suggested that a garment worker needs 3.5 times that amount in order to live a “decent life with basic facilities.” Does your t-shirt say Turkey? A 2018 U.S. Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labor in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam, and other countries.
  • What is my t-shirt made of? Cotton? It takes 2,700 liters of water to produce one non-organic cotton shirt, for example, which is enough water for one person to drink for 2 ½ years. Organic cotton requires 91% less water to produce. And speaking of water, 20% of global industrial water pollution is due to the dyeing and treatment of textiles.
  • I’ve got a closet full of old t-shirts, is throwing them out really that bad? Yes, it is. We burn or landfill one garbage truck of clothing every second, which is enough to fill 1.5 Empire State Buildings every day. And burning our waste is a major environmental justice issue. Research shows that 79 percent of municipal solid waste incinerators are located in low-income and BIPOC communities. When burned, the plastics and dyes in our clothing emit particulate and toxic pollutants into the air that are hazardous to human health, disproportionately impacting communities closest to incinerators. 
  • What is the carbon footprint of my clothing? There are actually some handy tools to help with that. But the big picture is not good. The fashion industry alone is responsible for 2-8% of global greenhouse gas pollution. With our global carbon budget heading towards bankruptcy within the decade at the current global GHG pollution rate, it should go without saying that this is a significant number. 

As discouraging as these answers are, our questions also led to promising solutions and partners working to change the conventional model. We’ve learned there is a lot of good news out there, and that each of us has the power to make better choices, respond to the climate crisis with meaningful action, and join the movement fighting for a livable planet. Our club chose to contribute to that movement, and here’s how we’re starting:

  • We source fabrics from environmentally and ethically responsible sources, like Recover Brand and Econscious. Our fabrics include 100% organic cotton grown in the U.S. southeast, 100% recycled polyester from plastic water bottles, upcycled cotton made from manufacturing waste scraps, and hemp. These fabrics are not only high quality, but lessen our impact on people and the planet by reducing water pollution from dyes and chemicals, plastic pollution, and carbon pollution. We can take steps that prioritize environmental justice, like sourcing organic cotton from the U.S., which ensures we avoid exposing farmworkers to the toxic chemicals that are used to grow conventional cotton, or unwittingly support forced labor in China. 
  • We’re embracing circularity as a way to make our biggest impact. Circularity is an old ethos made new, where frugality and ingenuity are once again cool. Recover Brand is one of the real innovators in the U.S. apparel scene. They developed the technology that allows them to take back everything they sell, including blended fabrics, and recycle used fabric into new products. This process is what’s known as a closed-loop, and our supporters can rest easy knowing their purchase never has to go to the landfill. We are also promoting DIY using our sew-on patches to turn old clothing into a repurposed Vermont Green FC piece of apparel that’s unique to you. 

If you’re ready to quit the one garbage truck every second club and rock some Vermont Green FC apparel, let us know on socials! We love seeing our stuff out in the world and, honestly, just want to be your friend.

As always, Go Green!