“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” — Howard Zinn, historian, author, social activist.
Washing clothes is one of the most universal chores of modern life. But what if everyone in the world made a few minor changes to how they launder one common item — their jeans?
The collective impact would be significant and would help address one of the most pressing global issues of our time: water. Through our second Product Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) — a study designed to evaluate the environmental impact of some of our products — we found that consumer care habits were responsible for 23 percent of the water used in the lifecycle of a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans. That’s nearly 870 liters of precious H2O spent on not very dirty denim.
Want to clean up your act? It’s as simple as one, two, three.
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Take this quiz and answer a few easy questions to measure the water and energy impact generated by your individual washing habits, and to see how you compare with the average person.
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At the end of the quiz, take the #WashLessPledge by committing to washing your jeans less.
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Share your score on social media and encourage your colleagues, family and friends to take the quiz, learn the impact of their habits and pledge to wash less too.
It may not seem like much, but washing your denim less frequently can make a big difference. Here’s how that adds up around the world.
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If everyone in the U.S. washed their jeans after every 10 wears instead of just two (the national average), we would save enough water to meet the annual water needs for the city of San Diego (or San Jose, or Dallas!) and enough energy to power 1.3 million households.
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If everyone in the U.K. and France washed their jeans after every 10 wears instead of the average 2½, we would save enough water to meet the annual water needs for the city of Nice, France, and enough energy to power 800,000 households.
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If everyone in China washed their jeans after every 10 wears instead of four, we would save enough water to meet the annual water needs for Beijing and enough energy to power 22.9 million households.
If you pledge to wash less you’re obviously you’re already a winner because you save water (and quarters and detergent). Not enough incentive for you? How about this: Take the Are You Ready to Come Clean quiz, then share your results on Twitter using the #WashLessPledge hashtag and you could win a $100 Levi’s gift card (see official contest rules for details). [EDITOR’S UPDATE: Twitter contest ended 4/22/15.]
Are you ready to come clean? Take the quiz and pledge to wash less!
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