Reduces production water consumption Levi's builds green jeans

The United States "Time" magazine reported that in 2007, Levi's made a "cradle to grave" assessment of the resources needed to make 501 jeans. The result was an amazing discovery - this famous pair of jeans is almost made of water. Into the. According to the findings of the company based in San Francisco, USA, from the cotton field to the cotton cloth to the washing machine, a 501 jeans actually needs to consume 3480 liters of water during its lifetime. If water pipes are used to water the garden, these waters can be used for 106 minutes.

In terms of cotton cultivation and consumer cleaning of jeans, Levi's can not largely change the status quo, but company executives have realized that they can use ozone to deal with, reduce the amount of water needed to soften jeans before the official sale, such as stone wash. With this idea, Levi's introduced the new jeans Water? Less (meaning low water consumption) will be available in January 2011. Water? Less's production costs are comparable to regular jeans, but the final process consumes an average of 28% less water. According to Levi's prediction, Water? Less sales in the spring of 2011 will exceed 1.5 million, which will save about 16 million liters of water in total. Karl Chiara, head of the company's special project, said: "We changed the method and brought amazing results."

The environmental impact of clothing can be minimal. Consumers don’t need any electricity or gasoline after wearing clothes. However, the increasing demand for cotton and other chemical fiber materials consumes a lot of water and fertilizer. From production to transportation, to final cleaning and maintenance, it also consumes a lot of energy. According to statistics, insecticides used in cotton cultivation account for about 25% of the world's total consumption. On average, 15% to 20% of the fabrics used to make garments become waste materials in tailoring.

One way to reduce the environmental impact of the apparel industry is to adopt more effective ways to reduce the consumption of water, pesticides, and electricity in the garment production process. Levi's launch of Water? Less is a good example. In addition, the use of natural dyes instead of chemical dyes can also reduce pollution.

At present, some pioneers in the apparel industry are designing spontaneously the clothing that consumes less water in the production process, and further promote the boundary of the sustainable development of the garment industry. The technology they use includes garbage-free layout. The whole process is like playing a jigsaw puzzle. But while reducing waste, clothing must still remain quite attractive. Timo Risana, Assistant Professor of Fashion Design and Research Sustainability at Parsons School of Design in New York, said: “To reduce waste is important, but the pursuit of beauty is equally important. The industry’s top priority is still to design beautiful clothing. ."

At present, the concept of zero-waste is still at the edge of the design community, similar to Levi's Water? Improvement like Less is just a glass of water. This is why the most devout followers of the sustainable apparel industry may wish to reduce the amount of clothing purchased while maintaining this habit over time. Rissasson said: “People can easily mix 'needs' and 'desires'. I think buying as little clothes as possible and choosing low-energy clothes are the ideal solution.” This may be the greenest approach.