WHO KNEW our Winter Olympic Team’s Uniforms Would Not Only Be Extraordinarily Attractive But Sustainable As Well?

The Ralph Lauren-designed red, white and blue puffer jackets, in an eye-popping plaid with an oversized red, white and blue USA logo on the back, are sure to be memorable. Equally important is the sustainability of the materials being used; From head to toe the uniforms are made entirely from recycled materials or natural fibers

The publicity surrounding the Olympic team’s use of 100% sustainable materials for the team uniforms has been front and center, but it’s only one of the many stories making the news regarding sustainable apparel. You can find sustainable clothing by the labels. For example, a wool sweater might indicate that it is 100% RWS (Responsible Wool Standard-certified), which means the sheep farms contributing the wool for your sweater meet rigorous animal welfare and land management requirements, a very high standard. New and exciting technological advances will also help you make smart choices and help to promote clothing that is kinder to our earth. Labels with QR codes (barcodes providing information which you can access with your smart phone’s camera) will provide you with a link detailing every step in the manufacturing process of your garment. Informed consumers can make better choices to help build a more sustainable world.

Recycling and the reuse of clothing materials are important to helping mitigate climate change. We are cheering Team USA, as well as sustainably-minded companies (like Patagonia, Cotopaxi and Everlane, to name a few) which are on the frontline of environmentally friendly clothing manufacturing. Go to apparelcoalition.org to learn more about the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and additional companies committed to sustainable clothing.