BDB Pitmans – A better tomorrow through Climate Change strategy

As the official legal partner and back of the shirt sponsor of Reading FC Women, BDB Pitmans was proud to support the launch of the team’s latest kit earlier this year.

Highlighting the climate crisis

Designed to highlight the climate crisis, the club released their 2022/23 strip on 21 June 2022 to coincide with #ShowYourStripesDay which aims to drive conversations about climate change.

Comprised of 170 vertical red, white and blue coloured bars, the stripes in question, which appear on the sleeves of each player’s jersey, belong to the climate stripes graphic created by Reading University climate scientist Professor Ed Hawkins, intended to illustrate the rise in global temperatures from 1850 to the present day.

Impact of the stripes

The impact of the stripes cannot be underestimated. On 21 June every year, individuals and businesses around the world ‘show their stripes’ in honour of their commitment to slowing down climate change. Since its conception in 2018, Professor Hawkins’ stripes have appeared on the front cover of The Economist, on the catwalks of London Fashion Week, at music festivals, on television and even at the Chelsea Flower Show. Four years later, the now iconic image secured another first when it took a spot on Reading FC Women’s latest kit.

Named in The Sunday Times’ Green PowerList as one of the UK’s top 20 most influential environmentalists, Hawkins is also a prominent climatologist at the University of Reading – a world leading climate science facility based just a few moments’ walk from BDB Pitmans’ Reading office.

Partnering for the planet

The University of Reading and Reading Football Club are themselves ‘partnering for the planet’ to help the club take steps towards minimising its environmental impact and improving its sustainability. With this in mind, the kit’s shirt is made from a knit fabric called Eco-Softlock, made from 100% recycled polyester yarn, equivalent to 13 ½ litre recycled plastic bottles.

BDB Pitmans’ climate change strategy

For BDB Pitmans, creating space to amplify important voices in the climate change sphere is only the tip of the iceberg. As part of an ambitious climate change strategy we are implementing various wide-ranging measures, policies and practices with the aim of reducing our energy use and carbon emissions to reach net zero by 2050.

With the help of independent environmental consultancy, Green Element, we are striving to understand our true environmental impact and find ways to support our employees and those across our supply chains, to reduce their overall carbon emissions through recycling, best practice and carbon offsetting.

To find out more, read our Responsible Business Overview here