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SALT LAKE CITY — Real Salt Lake faces San Jose on Saturday on Earth Day, and the team announced several initiatives this week to help Utah's own Great Salt Lake as part of an increased environmental focus.
The club is categorizing these efforts under a new "Defenders of the Great Salt Lake'' initiative, highlighted by a pledge to donate $100 for every save made by an RSL goalkeeper to the Save Our Great Salt Lake Coalition, a nonprofit that includes scientists, farmers, decision-makers and business leaders working toward coordinated solutions for the struggling lake.
So far this season, RSL goalkeepers Zac MacMath and Gavin Beavers have combined for 24 saves, totaling $2,400 already donated to the coalition.
In addition, the team will donate $25 from the sale of every "For the Planet" jersey at the RSL Team Store. The jersey will be worn by the team on Saturday, along with every other team in MLS, to celebrate and bring attention to the planet on Earth Day.
🌊ONE PLANET JERSEYS AVAILABLE NOW!
— RSL Team Store (@RSLTeamStore) April 18, 2023
Get the jersey our guys will be wearing this weekend, available NOW in limited supply in store, and online for in-store pickup.
$25 of every jersey sold will be donated to the Save the Great Salt Lake Project.https://t.co/vqzB2LP7GBpic.twitter.com/nDx5uGtVRZ
As part of the initiative, several RSL players took a trip out to the Great Salt Lake with local biologists to learn about the lake's condition and see up close what is happening at the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.
"I think it was really important for all of us to see what the Great Salt Lake really looks like," MacMath said. "We fly over it all the time and getting to see it in person is really eye-opening."
The club's announcement comes amid increased concern and public attention surrounding the lake, as its water level reached an all-time low last year. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced last month it is donating 5,700 water shares to the Great Salt Lake that will send more than 20,000 acre-feet of water to the struggling lake every year.
Jami Butler, a biologist who has been working at the Great Salt Lake since 1999, led the team's visit to the lake and spoke with the players about the importance of the lake and why it must be saved.
"Talk about the lake, I think that is the most important thing," Butler told the team. "Tell your friends and family. If you really love birds, talk about birds. If you really love to ski, talk about how the lake affects snow and how important that is to you.
"If you really love your health, you might talk about the Great Salt Lake because a disappearing Great Salt Lake can be a health hazard to all of us through the dust that ends up in the airshed in our valley that we live in."
RSL will take the field in its Earth Day jerseys Saturday at America First Field against the San Jose Earthquakes. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. MDT.
