green football Archives - Green Football's Great Save

In the Marshall Islands, football is more than just a game. It is a fight for survival. The island nation, home to just 42,000 people, is battling rising sea levels threatening to wipe it off the map. Now, its football team is using the sport to send a message about climate change, starting with a kit that is vanishing before our eyes.

Football in the Marshall Islands is only just beginning. Until recently, the country had no team and no 11-a-side pitch. Their first full-size pitch, built for the 2023 Micronesian Games, only got approval because it also serves as a sea defence. That is how serious the climate threat is.

This year, the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation launched the no home jersey. Decorated with the islands’ unique flora, fauna and cultural emblems, the design carries a powerful message. The number 1.5 is printed on every jersey, marking the 1.5 degrees Celsius global temperature rise that could be catastrophic for Pacific island nations. In addition, each time the federation posted an image of the shirt online, more of the shirt disappeared, mirroring the land being lost to the rising ocean. That is why they used football to tell their story and fight back.

Green Football’s Great Save is using the power of football to protect our planet. Just as the Marshall Islands’ disappearing kit highlights the threat of rising seas, football waste is another crisis harming the game. Every season, 120,000 grassroots matches in the UK are cancelled due to flooding. Now, fans, clubs, and leagues are stepping up to make the great save, keeping kit in play instead of throwing it away.

Every year, an estimated 100,000 tonnes of sportswear ends up in UK landfills. If this clothing were distributed among a packed crowd at Wembley Stadium (90,000 people), each person would receive over 2,500 pieces of clothing.

But we can do something to help – keeping your kit in play for just nine more months could reduce its carbon, water, and waste footprint by up to 30%.

We’re coming together to donate, sell or reuse football kits to reduce the amount of sportswear ending up in landfill every year.

Here’s how you can do this:

Pass your kit to someone who needs it – this helps increase access to the kit we need to enjoy the game, and has a positive impact on the environment. This could be giving it to your friends and family or donating it through our collection points across the UK, including at your club, at your local Salvation Army shop where we have dedicated drop off points or post it to them for free using their kit postal service.
Sell your preloved kit – There’s huge untapped value in the kit sitting in the back of our wardrobes. Sell it through your preferred resale platform to do something good for the planet and your pocket.
Reuse the kit you already have – You can reduce your environmental impact by simply wearing kit for longer. So keep wearing that lucky shirt – and, when it’s too worn, consider mending it or using the fabric to make something else. Check out the stories on our site for inspiration.

Tell us you’ve done it for a chance to win prizes

Let us know you’ve made the Great Save by donating, selling on or reusing your kit – and you’ll be entered into a draw to win prizes including 12 months’ free Sky Sports and Ultra Boost, tickets to the Sky Bet Championship Play-off Final at Wembley, a signed 23/24 Lionesses shirt and more.

Tag: green football

The Marshall Islands’ disappearing kit

How to make the Great Save

Let’s save our kit from landfill and give it another game.

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