Football club Forest Green Rovers are making their mark on the pitch with a green approach to their new uniform. The club has recently announced new sustainable football shirts made from 35% recycled coffee grounds and 65% recycled polyester. The team will proudly reveal their new kit at a match against Colchester on Saturday, which is said to be ‘lighter, breathable, and more flexible’ than previous kits. The players had already taken a sustainable approach two years ago, using bamboo as the material for their shirts. These new materials used have proven to be more eco-friendly and less weight for the team.
Why Forest Green Rovers chose this direction
FIFA recognises Forest Green Rovers as the ‘world’s greenest football club’, and we can see why! The club has been investigating the most sustainable fabrics that they could upgrade to since their famous bamboo kits and found this great and innovative solution using coffee waste and plastic bottles. Whilst they are changing the game on the football pitch, the club will also be selling the prototypes, with the proceeds being shared between Gloucestershire NHS and a reforestation charity called One Tree Planted. This charity is dedicated to creating a healthier climate and helping with reforestation efforts worldwide by planting ‘One tree per dollar’.
The eco-friendly team
The team chairman has spoken publicly about their adventure in searching for the best alternative green materials. It’s clear to see just how passionate this football team is about our planet. Not only are they designing sustainable kits, but the club is also powered by wind and solar energy generated by Ecotricity and are the world’s first vegan football club!
Benefits of wearing recycled materials
Green clothing is something many of us have heard of, but what exactly is it? This term relates to clothing made from sustainable materials, such as plastic bottles or bamboo that we have seen used by Forest Green Rovers. The whole cycle from the material used to the process in which green clothes are created is eco-friendly, making the benefits to the planet huge. When we wear recycled clothing, and in an industry as massive as sporting, we are saving vital raw materials and energy from being used. The process of manufacturing raw clothing also causes large amounts of pollution, affecting both the air and earth: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has calculated the fashion industry produces 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions every year, while it is estimated to use around 1.5 trillion litres of water annually (The Guardian). Recycling plastic bottles into clothing also saves large amounts of landfill space, diverting this material from filling up our oceans and ultimately polluting further environments and killing wildlife.
