Nike's Environmentally Friendly National Team Jerseys/Kits
As Nike promised, they have opened a new chapter in soccer gear history. On Wednesday at Nike’s secret launch event in London, the sporting mega brand unveiled their new line of National team jerseys and kits made entirely from recycled polyester (each jersey is made from 8 recycled plastic bottles!). To make the new 2010 World Cup kits, Nike’s fabric suppliers bought discarded plastic bottles from landfills and the melted them down to create yarn that was then converted into fabric for the jerseys.
“This summer in South Africa Nike will give footballers an edge by providing the newest and most innovative product for the game’s greatest players,” said Charlie Denson, President, Nike Brand. “With today’s announcement, we are equipping athletes with newly designed uniforms that not only look great and deliver performance benefits, but are also made with recycled materials, creating less impact on our environment.”
As Nike continues on his quest for green sustainability, this new process saves raw materials and reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent compared to manufacturing virgin polyester. By using recycled polyester for its new range of national jerseys, Nike prevented nearly 13 million plastic bottles, totaling nearly 254,000 kg of polyester waste, from going into landfill sites. This amount would be enough to cover more than 29 football pitches. If the recycled bottles used to make the jerseys were laid end-to-end they would cover more than 3,000 kilometres, which is more than the entire coastline of South Africa.
Good Afternoon,
Irving ISD, in Irving, Texas, will be opening the largerst Net-Zero middle school in the United States this upcoming school year. The school will consist of solar panels, wind turbines, and water conservation efforts using geo-thermal wells. I am in the processing of interviewing for the Head Coach Position, and would like to show my support to the message of the school by introducing eco-friendly material that can be used by our sports program. I have already acquired information and received and eco-friendly soccer ball, and wanted to see if NIKE would like to assist our school district with our equipment requests, etc. I was very excited to learn about the eco-friendly jerseys used in this past World Cup and would like, if possible, a sample of this work as well as literature illustrating the efforts that NIKE is putting forth to contribute to a healthy world. I will be pitching the idea of a turf field to support water waste and money saved from field maintenence. Please contact me at your earliest convenience using the above email. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Marrs