Which is the most ethical kit manufacturer

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Which is the most ethical kit manufacturer

Spectator · All-time great

I suspect you are speaking about sports ethics (eg the sponsorship) rather than general ethics (ie how they treat labourers, environmental care, etc) but if the latter should also be of interest, this may be helpful: www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/clothing/sportswear.aspx. The ranking mechanism allows you to prioritise or de-emphasise certain criteria, depending on your own positions/concerns.

-- Edited by Spectator on Sunday 22nd of May 2016 07:59:40 AM

RJA · Hall of fame

I am not sure how people can really advise you on this. What you consider to be ethical behaviour and what someone else considers to be ethical behaviour may well be very different. It comes down to your own values and what you consider to be important.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Data is generally hard to benchmark, the neutrality of those doing the benchmarking is hard to verify, and reports tend to only exist for clothing rather than equipment, and even then, only for the very biggest brands i.e. Nike, Adidas.

Nevertheless, here are some (often contradictory) places to help you inform your decision based on your own principles:
www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/clothing/sportswear.aspx
www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/clothing/trainers.aspx
www.thegoodshoppingguide.com/ethical-shoes-and-trainers/
greatist.com/fitness/athletic-wear-companies-social-good

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

Tried to reply, but as I included a large number of links to ethical sources, it was marked as spam

GBJ · Club Coach

AliBlahBlah wrote:
Tried to rreply, but as I included a large number of links to ethical sources, it was marked as spam

is that something a mod can sort?

GBJ · Club Coach

RJA wrote:
I am not sure how people can really advise you on this. What you consider to be ethical behaviour and what someone else considers to be ethical behaviour may well be very different. It comes down to your own values and what you consider to be important.

nice to see it being discussed though

steven · Tennis legend

GBJ wrote:
AliBlahBlah wrote:
Tried to rreply, but as I included a large number of links to ethical sources, it was marked as spam
is that something a mod can sort?

Yes it is - now done

Etienne · Club Coach

I think the ethical consumer guides are really good because, as Spectator says, the way they allow you to rank your own criteria.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

steven wrote:
GBJ wrote:
AliBlahBlah wrote:
Tried to rreply, but as I included a large number of links to ethical sources, it was marked as spam
is that something a mod can sort?
Yes it is - now done

Thank you, kindly, sir

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Thanks for that I am thinking Asics tennis shoes, Umbro shorts, THTC hemp T shirt (look fantastic but may get barred from Wimbledon) and Patagonia fleece with Columbia waterproofs for Roland Garos.

Tennis racket a bit of a struggle, will definitely base that on corporate attitude to players confessing to use of performance enhancing drugs and then despite accepting full responsibility for their actions doing everything they can to mitigate an appropriate punishment. Ie failing cyclings "Miller test of true accountability", I know there is very little will within the sport to hold top players let alone paymasters who subsidise the sport at grass routes level to account but there is no place for lack of clarity, if you support an athlete who has confessed to the use of performance enhancing drugs and peddle your equipment to 7 year olds playing red ball that is a brand I want nothing to do with.

Any suggestion on the racket, presently got my old Dunlop Maxply out, but catgut is a nightmare to source and I need a non drug tainted upgrade.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

I am still keeping going with this. Inspired by headlines in the LA times about Donald planning to initiate oil and gas exploration of the Californian coast, I took time yesterday to visit the Patagonia store/factory ie. just went into the store in Ventura.

Their story is a great one if you are at all interested in the environment and sustainable environmentally friendly clothes manufacturing. I have now purchased some kit that isn't too shabby, indeed their "baggies" (shorts) perfectly suit my need ie. appropriate leg coverage whilst still qualifying as shorts and should keep me going through the season. It definitely does not come cheap but is pretty durable so plan to slowly replace most of my sports kit.

We have now completely rid the family tennis gear of everything "Head" hurts me a bit as I really like the Union Jack themed bag but principles must.

Very very happy with Asics tennis shoes tick all the boxes for me, kids still in Babolat but will phase out purely on quality.

Tennis rackets still probably an issue, very hard to change as having rejected Head have certain brand loyalty that will be difficult to give up.