Running Gear, an Ethical Fashion Dilemma
This Stuff #176
In the last four years, I’ve run about 3,200 miles throughout 18 different cities, seven countries, and four continents. It’s the most consistent movement I’ve done since I removed my shin guards and cleats for the last time in my senior year of high school. Discovering something that makes me feel a sense of accomplishment outside of work has been life changing and even with a few injuries and setbacks, it has been one of the best things I’ve done for myself.
But… It’s put me in an ethical fashion predicament.
Did you know that running shoes tend to wear out fairly quickly? I’ve gone through 10 pairs of sneakers, with varying mileage limits, but on average, I seem to get about 300 good miles per pair. You can do the math for the last few years. What are you supposed to do with a dead pair of shoes?
Then, there is the fact that you have to wash your clothes. All. The. Time. And that’s bad for a lot of reasons, most of them being that workout clothes are made from fossil fuel-based materials that break down into the water. It also makes the clothing progressively less wearable over time, which leads me to my third problem. Recycling and reselling workout gear and sneakers is bleak at best. Lastly, I just want a cute set as a treat for all my hard work, and it’s challenging to find the things I need with brands I genuinely believe in.
Like I said, it's an ethical fashion enthusiast’s hard place.
It’s not all lost, though. After four years, I think I've found some solutions, and because I know I’m not alone in this, I’m finally ready to share them.
NOTE: I do mention products that I like, but I am not receiving any commission from the brands.
Dilemma number 1: Dead Shoes
Did you know running shoes become useless really, really fast? Me either. At least not until the first time I wore my running shoes for about 600 miles and ended up with a hip injury and two months of physical therapy. You’re supposed to get about half that, which means about every 3-4 months, I’m buying a new pair and trying to figure out what to do with the useless ones.
Solution:
After a few years, I’ve found two pairs of running shoe brands work for me: Hoka and ON Running. I tend to get all-black pairs because they are easier to clean and give away (I always make a note with the mileage on the shoe lace, and they still get snatched up).
There is also a shoe recycling program through Thousand Fell called Supercircle, which I’ve used when the sneakers are just too old. They take any brand of sneakers and you get credit toward a pair that they make.
Something I haven’t tried but would love to see more broadly is brands recycling and reusing in-house. ON, for example, has a monthly subscription program where you send them back every few months to be recycled, and you then get a new recycled pair.
Dilemma number 2: A little treat
When you start working out or running regularly after not doing it, the outfit situation is usually pretty adhoc. For me, I was throwing on a t-shirt and shorts with whatever old pair of sneakers were in my closet and going for it. But then you realize that maybe you need some actual performance pieces if you’re going to keep doing this.
You get a nice bra, a pair of leggings, sneakers made for the gym, and everything changes. You have committed, AND you feel good. So you go a few more months, sick of wearing the same thing, realizing different performance needs from your clothing, and you want a little reward. Again, that feeling! Now, you are getting better and you have needs in your gear (for me it’s two tight leg pockets and tall socks. It would be easy to find that at a big sports brand that doesn’t prioritize innovative sustainable materials or workers’ rights, so it’s an extra layer of research and time.
Solution:
I don’t treat buying new clothes as a reward. Instead, I want to buy gear that fits your style and will last a long time. Just because you started working out one way doesn’t mean you need to buy everything at once. It’s about extending that trial period on pieces that don’t feel quite right and taking the time to understand what I truly need. For me, it’s super tight pockets, and the brands I’ve bought from are Vuori and Patagonia. There is also secondhand, and many sports brands have started to offer this up. Some people get the ick from this but I promise you if you look you will find new with tags high-end workout gear on The Real Real and more.
Dilemma number 3: Wash and wear (and tear)
Solution:
This is a tougher one for me because the reality is that you have to wash the clothes often, and they are going to shed microplastics and slowly break down. I’ve mitigated this somewhat with brands that I find last longer through regular wash and wear - again, Vuori, Patagonia, and (SOME) On apparel are my top three so far. I try to make the other pieces of my laundry experience as sustainable as possible. I’ve fully switched over to Blueland tablets, which are completely plastic-free, and I cycle through my five sets and do the laundry together when I’ve worn four.
Then, if there are pieces that I don’t think I’ll be able to wear again, I look to the brand first to see if they have a program for taking back clothing. If not, I’ll either retire them to loungewear or run them where I won’t be seen. It’s not ideal, but the landfill death is something I will do what I can to mitigate.
And finally…
The biggest dilemma is perhaps the fact that there is no real solution. You can certainly buy secondhand gear, but that’s not going to solve the problem of plastics being a major component of these products, further seeping into our systems with every run. Then there’s also the unethical treatment of workers, famously perpetuated by major sports brands. (See this story here that I did for Teen Vogue, where garment workers talked about being underpaid by Nike.) I say this not to be cynical but instead to clarify that my solutions are just suggestions for now, and I hope to find even better ones soon. I don’t want to be the plastic generation anymore, we should be able to find joy in clothing and movement without it being wrapped in plastic and the exploitation of others.