About us
Greenlight Apparel was started with the goal of doing things differently. In 2007 our team was visiting South Asia and we were horrified by what we saw. Children, some of which where under the age of 8, working in facilities that produced apparel for well known global brands. We saw child labor, terrible working conditions and production processes that were unhealthy for the environment and people involved. We decided right then and there to change the game.
With a passion for a healthy and athletic lifestyle, we set our eyes on producing the kind of clothes we loved, in a sustainable way at the highest possible quality. We’re excited to say that idea has resonated well with like-minded folks and three years later we are known for creating industry-leading performance apparel for active individuals and some of the top sporting
events in the country – but it’s how we create it that makes us proud.
We start by sourcing organic cotton and technical fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles. Then we work with fair-trade certified production facilities to engineer and produce our performance products. Finally, we take 25% of our profits and donate them to charities we support and our microfinance fund.
We’re now producing apparel for sporting events, companies, teams, colleges and in Fall 2011 we launched our direct-to-consumer retail line available through our web store and select retail partners.
Wear it For Good
Giving back is at the core of our philosophy. Since we started we’ve been giving back and getting better at giving back – learning about what works and what has the most impact. Our mission can best be summed up by the age-old proverb ‘give a person a fish and they will eat for a day, teach them how to fish and they will eat for a lifetime.’ With that in mind we focus our giving on two Wear it for Good initiatives; microfinace and education.
1. MICROFINANCE is the practice of offering small, non-profit loans to women who otherwise would not have access to credit. These loans, sometimes as little as $100, can help a woman start a small business to better provide for her family. Women have consistently proven that they take loans more responsibly and with the best interest of their family in mind. Time and time again, there have been success stories of women starting
a business, supporting her family, sending her children to school and even creating new jobs. These responsible women act as an example to other women in the community and inspire change on a grassroots level. Loans get repaid over 90% of the time and then re-loaned while the fund grows larger year-by-year. This model strikes us as truly sustainable.
2. EDUCATION is the best tool for empowering the next generation. We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to support education centers that we think are doing excellent work. In the past several years we have been supporting a range of foundations that tackle a multitude of issues like, re-socializing trafficked children, providing vocational training and outfitting schools and students with solar energy technologies.
