By Heather Box
Kyle Thiermann, a 20-year-old professional surfer from Santa Cruz California, stood in a clothing factory in Sri Lanka amongst the commotion of the sewing machines, fabric cutters and conveyor belts as workers bustled to make sporting wear that would be distributed in the United States and Europe. A large orange sign at the end of the work line read, “The next person to see this item will be the consumer.”
“It made me realize that although I may be 16 hours from home, on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, I actually have a very close relationship with these workers,” says Thiermann. “This sweatshirt came from the hands of someone in Sri Lanka, to my local surf shop and onto my back,” he says, indicating the sweatshirt he is wearing. Thiermann, who is an activist along with a surfer set out on a three week trip to Sri Lanka this past August to track down exactly where his sweatshirt was made and to see the conditions in which it was created.