Sustainability in track uniforms is an important issue for sports brands to address. The industry is a major contributor to environmental concerns, including air and water pollution.
As a result, companies need to fundamentally change the way they create value and drive sustainable consumption behaviors. These changes can include utilizing upcycled materials, circular business models, or adapted product ranges.
Fabrics
Many sustainable track uniforms are made from natural or recycled fibers. These materials are eco-friendly and help to conserve water, lower carbon emissions, regenerate soil, and reduce textile waste.
Cotton and other natural fibers are more environmentally friendly than synthetics because they release fewer greenhouse gases per kilogram of fabric. However, cotton production also causes a lot of water pollution and releases oil-based pesticides.
Polyester is a synthetic fiber that has a higher carbon footprint than cotton. This is due to the amount of energy required to make it.
Another issue is the use of chemicals that are needed to create it. These chemicals can be harmful to the environment and also cause health problems in workers.
The use of recycled materials is a great way to reduce the environmental impact of track uniforms, and it’s becoming more popular. Some companies, including Nike, are using fabrics sourced from recycled plastic bottles and other waste materials.
In addition to being environmentally conscious, these materials are also comfortable and durable. This helps to ensure that the apparel will perform well and last longer.
Some companies even incorporate these materials into the design of their products. For example, North Carolina-based Atayne uses recycled cotton from U.S. municipal recycling centers to create the yarns for its performance sportswear.
Athletes, who are always looking to improve their performance, often want their apparel to be durable and long-lasting. This is a challenge that can be solved with innovative technology, such as the NFW process mentioned above. NFW has patented a process that welds short fibers into longer ones and can impart performance characteristics to these materials.
As a result, these fabrics are much more resistant to wear and tear than standard cotton. These garments also outperform synthetic materials, which means that they have a better reputation for durability and longevity.
While sustainability is a good thing, there are still many issues that need to be resolved in the industry. The most effective approach is to set measurable targets and work with peers to achieve them. This is an approach that has worked for top performing companies. These organizations invest in collective action with governments, industry bodies and peer companies to drive meaningful change. They share their learnings and keep themselves accountable for their progress.
Sourcing
The sustainable supply chain is an increasingly important factor for apparel retailers and manufacturers. In fact, ethical sourcing is becoming part of the corporate responsibility agenda of major companies across all industries. This is because, with the increasing cost of labour in developing countries and the growing awareness of consumers about working conditions overseas, brands are realising that they cannot afford to ignore ethical sourcing issues.
The most obvious way for brand managers to promote ethical sourcing is by using corporate codes of practice. These can be based on principles such as paying fair wages and ensuring the environment isn’t damaged by manufacturing processes. Many companies are also implementing more rigorous audits and inspections of their suppliers.
However, the supply chain management of sustainable fashion products remains a complex task. In particular, global fragmentation of the supply chain makes it difficult to implement socially responsible strategies across the entire supply chain. Moreover, the management of these strategies can be complicated once independent sourcing intermediaries are in between the focal company and its developing country factories, since compliance and communication strategies require a great deal of expertise.
In the literature, only a small number of studies focus on the role of the sourcing intermediary in the implementation of socially responsible strategies in the apparel industry. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap by empirically exploring how and why sourcing intermediaries can implement social sustainability strategies.
To achieve the goal of this study, a pilot study was conducted with three supply chain actors: an apparel retailer, a sourcing intermediary, and a developing country factory. The resulting data was collected through semi-structured interviews.
As a result, we found that a broad range of sustainability aspects and offerings were highly appreciated by consumers. In general, sustainability offerings were more attractive than purchase criteria like appearance, comfort, and quality (with respect to materials and craftmanship).
Despite the findings of our pilot study, it is clear that research on consumer perception of sustainability in the apparel and footwear industry still needs to develop a better understanding of how they evaluate different sustainability aspects. More specifically, it is necessary to know how sustainability offerings are perceived by consumers in the context of sneakers.
Manufacturing
Fashion companies that are looking to implement more sustainable manufacturing practices have many tools available to them. These include sustainability certifications, NSF standards and third-party verification of raw materials and their use. These standards and verifications help to create a more efficient manufacturing environment that is better for both the consumer and the planet.
For instance, NSF has a number of certifications that verify the use of recycled content in apparel and footwear. The certifications are based on an audit process and third-party verification of the product’s sustainability claims.
Another way to improve sustainability is by tracking and reducing overproduction, which can be a challenge for fashion companies. Digital tracking is a solution that can help fashion companies to streamline production and cut down on waste, which also benefits the consumers.
The most important way to reduce overproduction is to make sure that you have the right information at all times. This can be accomplished through a combination of digitized supply chain management, timely data collection and automation solutions that can analyze this data to produce actionable insights.
Moreover, data can help you understand what steps to take to achieve your goals. This can be accomplished by utilizing cloud applications and services that can gather, track, and analyze data on a variety of systems.
One way to do this is by implementing a circular economy-led conceptual model for waste management in the textiles and apparel industry that enables responsible consumption and production patterns. It identifies the sources of waste in the different manufacturing stages, enables manufacturers to categorize and quantify waste, and provides industry stakeholders with opportunities for generating value from materials waste.
Additionally, the circular economy-led conceptual model can be used to develop waste-reduction strategies in the upstream manufacturing contexts, enabling more responsible processes and a more sustainable future. It also demonstrates the value that can be added to waste by developing new products, processes and business models.
As a result, the study has revealed that there is a need for research on this topic, especially when it comes to understanding how to design and implement sustainable practices in the TAF industries. It identifies three main research clusters: (1) consumers’ behaviour towards sustainable clothing consumption, (2) circular economy and corporate social responsibility issues in the TAF industries and (3) sustainability challenges in the TAF industries.
End of Life
For a moment in time, the United States men’s track and field team based at the University of Oregon was a powerhouse. A brief history lesson revealed that the team has been in the business for over 60 years. To this day, the university remains a premier research and development center in the sporting goods industry. The team is comprised of some of the best sports performers in the country. Its athletic prowess is unmatched, a testament to the hard work and dedication of its many dedicated staff members. The university is an exemplary example of how to balance the competing priorities of profit and reputation with the needs of the community it serves.