Water is a finite resource – and by 2030, environmentalists warn, the global demand for water will exceed the supply by 40 percent.
A recent public radio piece on PRI’s “The World” highlighted how some companies – like Levi Strauss & Co. – are responding to that looming crisis by dramatically reducing the amount of water they use to make their products.
“What we’re seeing [is] a growing cadre of companies who are shifting direction and elevating this as a priority in their business,” said Brooke Barton of CERES, a nonprofit that helps businesses be more sustainable.
LS&Co.’s effort to reduce water consumption starts with buying cotton farmed with less water through the Better Cotton Initiative, and continues with Water<Less™ technology that achieves the right color and softness in denim by using ozone gas instead of water.
And then there is the water consumers use to launder their jeans regularly.
Taking a cue from our own CEO, Bart Sights, vice president of technical innovation for LS&Co., pointed out that the company encourages people to wash their jeans far less. “I never wash my jeans. Ever,” he said. “If we could just convince people in America to wash their jeans only every five times they wear them, that would move the needle.”
Read or listen to the full story from PRI’s “The World.”
