Better cotton

I found this article today in the New York Times: Levi Strauss Tries to Minimize Water Consumption. The article tells about how the company is worried that if water becomes too scarce, their whole business could be jeopardized. And so... 

... to protect its bottom line, Levi Strauss has helped underwrite and champion a nonprofit program that teaches farmers in India, Pakistan, Brazil and West and Central Africa the latest irrigation and rainwater-capture techniques.  It has introduced a brand featuring stone-washed denim smoothed with rocks but no water. It is sewing tags into all of its jeans urging customers to wash less and use only cold water.

But actually, Levi's is not alone. Pepsi is also saving water by sanitizing water bottles with purified air instead of water. Also, I quote,  "[...] Ikea, the Gap and Adidas, founded the international nonprofit Better Cotton Initiative to promote water conservation and reduce pesticide use and child-labor practices in the industry."


And how is the sales doing? According to their Chief Marketing Officer, jeans that were advertised as low water consuming sold faster than regular jeans. Some customers, like me, never heard of the initiative before. The company, curiously enough, is trying to convince people not to wash their jeans as often too. As photographer Mr White puts it

“As long as you don’t get dirt on them, don’t do a lot of strenuous activity in them and — sorry if this is a bit vulgar — be sure to always wear underwear, you can really go a very long time between washing,” he wrote.