The Green Side to UMD’s Bookstore Apparel

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Sustainability. It’s a buzzword in almost every capacity. From building construction, to energy, to clothing, sustainability is a big deal. Recently, it seems like the only brands people are talking about when it comes to this buzzword are either the hyper-environmentally sustainable ones, like Stella McCartney, or the fast fashion brands, which tend to be very unsustainable, like Forever 21.

The recent publicity of these brands for their sustainability (or lack thereof) got me thinking about the brands between these two extremes. The ones not known for being very green or very un-green. The ones that haven’t been questioned for their adjustments to fulfill the push for increased sustainability in clothing.

“Sustainability, in my opinion, is an existential issue. We can continue to consume as we do and irreparably damage the environment we depend on for life, or we can seek ways to be sustainable. The window for effective change is closing,” Jo Paoletti, professor emerita of American studies said. Paoletti has spent about 40 years studying the history of textile, clothing and apparel design.

The University of Maryland is a primarily sustainable campus, in that it has many initiatives in place to combat climate change, such as reducing carbon emissions and using renewable energy when possible. When it comes to sustainable clothing, though, I wasn’t really sure what our university has done.

Our campus is plastered with an array of students sporting UMD gear, a majority of which was likely purchased from the campus bookstore. If so much of our campus is giving business to brands sold at the bookstore, like Under Armour and Champion, it’s important to determine if these brands deserve our support. Are they doing anything to protect our Earth from the effects of producing inexpensive clothing? Are these brands environmentally-conscious?

Joel Friedman, the chief merchandising officer of Barnes & Noble College which supplies the UMD bookstore, said that sustainability is very important to the company. He described specific partnerships with suppliers that are made in the United States, such as Denver-based UTrau, Minnesota-based Blue 24 and Pennsylvania-based League Collegiate Outfitters.

“Sustainability has become a top-of-mind issue for many students, and we support and encourage their commitment to social responsibility,” Friedman said.

But still, what about the more well known brands sold in the bookstore, like Under Armour and Champion. Are they doing anything to become more eco-friendly?

Under Armour

As one can tell clearly from a visit into the UMD bookstore, Under Armour is UMD’s official brand. Under Armour founder, Kevin Plank, was a terp who graduated in 1996. With the success of his company, it became his alma mater’s official brand, now worn by all of the D1 sports teams on campus.

According to rankabrand.org, a website which ranks brands based on their reported sustainability factors, as of 2017, Under Armour received an “E, Don’t Buy” ranking. According to the website, which was most recently updated in May of 2017, “Under Armour has achieved the E-label, because only a little information is published about a policy on sustainability. It is hard to see the effort Under Armour is making on sustainability. Therefore, more policy and transparency is needed.”

Since then, Under Armour has made efforts to advertise their environmental sustainability on their brand’s website, but facts are still a little unclear about where clothes are manufactured and how those specific factories are run.

In 2018, Under Armour received the REPREVE Champions of Sustainability award for repurposing about 10 million plastic water bottles into about 2.5 million shirts, keeping those bottles out of the landfills and oceans, according to the Under Armour website.

Additionally, the brand stopped using elastane in clothing because it makes fabrics almost impossible to recycle. Instead, a new thread is being used that allows clothes to be completely recyclable.

In terms of production, Under Armour joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition in 2016, which gives the brand tools to guide improvements in sustainability. At manufacturing facilities, the brand is working toward creating zero wastewater by using a digital printer to print graphics on clothing. This is estimated to yield “over 90% savings in water use and 30% savings in air and greenhouse gas emissions,” according to the Under Armour website.

One problem frequently discussed about Under Armour, especially because of their close proximity to campus with their headquarters in Baltimore, is their outsourcing of production.

According to an the company’s site, none of their clothing is produced in the United States, but rather it is all outsourced to other countries. While this isn’t specifically a sustainability issue, it seems like the brand could save on the hassle and economic impacts of travel by producing their clothing in America.

Brands outsource production to other countries for a couple of reasons.

“It is mostly a matter of saving money, but it’s complicated. For example, some of the costs they are saving is the cost of complying with environmental regulations or labor and wage laws,” Paoletti said.

Champion

Champion is another brand with a large presence in the bookstore. While Under Armour is the exclusive brand of UMD, Champion tends to make basic, more affordable clothing items which are often more appealing to customers looking for cheap momentos rather than athletically-equipped pieces of clothing.

Rankabrand.org also ranked Champion with a score of “E, Don’t Buy” in June 2017.

Similarly to Under Armour, there isn’t a lot of information published about their sustainability, or at least not compared to other brands. Also, with the increase in the importance of sustainability in clothing, many brands have updated their promotion of policies advertising their attempts to “go green.”

Champion is a brand under the parent brand Hanes. According to their website, Hanesforgood.com, the brand is making efforts to cut back on environmental harm that they may be causing. As of 2018, Hanes had reduced water usage by 31%. This means that the brand went from using an estimated 4,061 million gallons of water in 2007 to about 2,584 million gallons in 2017, according to their environmental performance data report listed on their website.

The brand also has measures put in place to reduce energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and water usage by 40% each by 2020, according to the environmental performance data posted on their website.

In addition, Hanes has made efforts to recycle their unused and leftover materials. In 2018, Hanes recycled more than 107 million pounds of fabric parts, plastic and other materials.

Champion sells one sweatshirt style made completely of recycled polyester fibers from plastic bottles, called the Champion ECO Powerblend Hood.

“50% of the fleece fabric in our large selling Champion item, the Power Blend fleece hoodie, is made from recycled plastic bottles,” Friedman said.

That being said, not all of the the Champion brand sweatshirts sold in the UMD bookstore are made in this way. Some are still made of cotton and polyester, not recycled materials.

Overall, throughout this investigation, it was quite difficult to understand what clothing brands are actually doing to become more environmentally sustainable.

“The biggest change that needs to happen is at the consumer level. Buy less, wear it longer, clean it less frequently,” said Paoletti. “Avoid fast fashion; if you can refuse a drinking straw or a plastic bag, you can survive with a smaller, more stable wardrobe.”