CINCINNATI — Saturday is Earth Day, a day to bring attention to efforts to improve the health of our planet. Major League Soccer teams across the country are getting involved.

Cincinnati resident Rachel Gavin is a lifelong soccer fan. On Wednesday, she was in search of new FC Cincinnati jerseys for her family at the team store. 

“We had been fans of MLS soccer since we’ve played,” said Gavin. “So once it came to the city of Cincinnati we were, of course, on board with it 100%.”

Gavin had her eyes on the new “One Planet” jerseys. They’re blue and turquoise and are made from recycled plastic. The team will wear them during its game Saturday against Portland. 

“The kits are cool and I think that it’s awesome that they’re recycled plastic and they’re helping save the planet,” she said.

The "2023 Ocean Kits" is a partnership among the Major League Soccer, Adidas and Parley for Oceans, a charity whose goal is to eliminate plastic waste. 

“It’s a great collaboration throughout the league to really highlight and help bring awareness to the elimination of plastic waste,” said Natalie Anderson, FC Cincinnati senior director of community relations.

Anderson said this is just one of several ways the team hopes to highlight efforts to help the planet. Just recently, the team partnered with the Cincinnati Zoo to collect more than 4,100 pounds of trash from the banks of the Ohio River. 

“We want to hopefully bring awareness around that and hope unit folks together to serve in these missions to help leave this planet a better place than we found it,” she said.

As for Gavin, she said she’s excited about the FC Cincinnati game on Saturday, an event supporting her favorite team and helping the environment. 

“Every game we hope to get a win,” she said. “Hopefully, they’ll get a win and yeah, just support them. They’ve been doing great this season, which is awesome.”

The Earth Day cause is an annual initiative with MLS teams across the country.