Why is Japan Looking For Old Clothes to Make Olympic Uniform?

Japan’s clothing-making company, ASICS Corporation, has started collecting old clothes to prepare official clothing for the Olympic Games scheduled in 2020. The company announces the collection of old clothes a few days ago.

ASICS Corporation will supply clothing to Japanese athletes and medal events participating in the Tokyo Olympic Games. To this end, the company will separate polyester fiber from old clothes for clothing and footwear for athletes in the country. ASICS has started collecting 30 thousand old garments in May this year. They are applying for old clothes by putting boxes in front of different playgrounds and toy stores. The question is, what is the reason for collecting fiber from old clothes to create athletes’ clothing in such a big area as the Olympic Games?

According to the BBC report, international pressure is increasing to the institutions to create sustainable clothing. Last year, the Parliamentary Committee of the UK expressed concerns about the increasing garbage of the garment industry. Because this waste affects climate change. In this concern some of the brand clothing companies already face environmentalists.

The United Nations said “The garment industry is emitting 10 percent of the world’s Green House gas emission. Moreover, the quantity of cotton needed to make a pair of pants, It requires about 10 thousand liters of water in production. With which It is possible to provide 10 years of drinking water for a person. Also every year from the garment industry 20 percent of the wastewater is released.” However, Japan has taken these steps to avoid harmful environmental issues.

To create clothing for Japanese athletes, many former athletes have already responded to the collection of cloth. One of them is Yoshida, who participated in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. He gave a t-shirt that he used on that Olympics.

Three-time Olympic champion and fourteen-time world champion Yoshida said,” By helping with clothes, people can think of themselves as a member of the team. It’s a new initiative for the game”.

However, The thing is material will be collected from the old garment is not going to use only to make the costume of the game. ASICS says that they will also collect other components from the collected cloth which can be used for any other clothing.