I’ve just read about creating sustainable football shirts and it seems design is paramount to the task: in other words, it’s not simply about access to resources or having the right tools. Rethinking the product first is the best approach, says Nike.
But to rethink or redesign an item, it’s crucial to know where the current one stands. To help with this, Nike constantly grades itself on the materials it uses for products, a measurement it calls the Materials Sustainability Index. This measure considers energy, water and chemical use, and also waste levels.
Of course, a simple action like recycling can positively contribute to these factors, too. So, in a sense, recycling materials to use in your products can help lead to better design.
To its credit, Nike has being paying attention to such things for years, and indeed its focus on recycling plastic bottles has been a major part of its success in sustainability. Amazingly, the company reports that it has diverted 7.5 billion plastic bottles from landfills since 2010.
So where do all the bottles go exactly?
Well, many of its jerseys are made out of them. The company cleans the bottles, shreds them and turns them into pellets. The pellets are melted and then shaped into a very good yarn that is used in a number of Nike kits, including those worn by Brazil, England, Portugal South Korea and Australia, among others.
The Soccer Pitch Is Green 