MLS WORKS announced on Thursday that the fourth annual Greener Goals Week of Service will begin this week, and continue through Earth Day as MLS clubs and league office staff volunteer their time and give back in partnership with local charitable organizations.
For the third consecutive year, all 24 MLS clubs will be wearing special adidas x Parley eco-friendly kits during Earth Day weekend (April 19-21). These innovative Climalite kits are made from technical yarns comprised of Parley Ocean Plastic, plastic waste collected on beaches and in coastal communities and transformed into high-performance sportswear.
The collaboration between MLS, adidas and Parley for the Oceans encourages fans to decrease their use of single-use plastics and reinforce the importance of changing human attitude and behavior towards plastic pollution through the Parley AIR Strategy: Avoid. Intercept. Redesign.
The message “For the Oceans” is featured in the inside of the neck tape detailing, and each club’s name is featured on the back neck. This year’s jerseys come in bold “Blue Spirit” and “Legend Ink” colors to represent the depth of the oceans.
Starting on Thursday, the MLS adidas Parley jerseys will be available for purchase at MLSstore.com, adidas.com, and stadium shops. To drive additional awareness, adidas will also launch a grassroots educational effort with MLS youth academies beginning on Earth Day, where teams will have a chance to win a set of adidas x MLS x Parley kits.
MLS WORKS Greener Goals identifies ways to reduce the league’s greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint and raise awareness about environmental issues throughout the soccer community. As part of that effort, MLS has committed to measure, reduce and offset the league’s GHG emissions and promote healthy, sustainable communities throughout the United States and Canada, and areas in need throughout the rest of the world.
MLS will be offsetting emissions associated with club travel for the entire MLS regular season, including flights, ground transportation and accommodation, totaling approximately 14,500 tons of CO2e. In 2018 MLS compensated 5,400 tons of CO2e associated with hotel accommodations, ground transportation, staff, player, executive and MLS guest travel and stadium operations as part of MLS All-Star Week and MLS Cup in Atlanta, in addition to player travel during the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
Additionally, MLS is partnering with South Pole and Sport and Sustainability International to offset its CO2e by investing in high-quality carbon credits issued from the distribution of emissions-reducing, life-improving cookstoves throughout communities in Kenya. So far 4,407 such cookstoves have been distributed in rural communities across the African nation, and as of October 2018 they are estimated to have positively impacted the lives and well-being of 14,000 women and children.
