During
the production process, an usual typical jeans product takes an
average of three to 10 spins in washers and dryers to give it its
unique appearance. Roughly 42 liters of water is being
used during the finishing
process alone. In action to represent
ongoing commitment for sustainable design, Levi Strauss &
Co. introduced Water<Less jeans in 2010. The company created a
finishing technique that reduces water use in the finishing process
by average of 28 percent less water and up to 96 percent for some
styles. To slash water use,
Levi's use a single wet-cycle process to replace the multiple wash
cycles. The company also incorporated ozone processing and stone
washing to produce the product. Techniques
by using ceramic stones,
rubber balls and changing the filtration system in the washing
machines, made jeans
finishing process to use only
four liters of water to achieve the distressed look. Levi's
claimed that the Water<Less collection saved more than 360 million
liters of water so far. It is just equivalent to the volume of 144
Olympic-size swimming pools.
As
part of Spring 2013 collection, Levi's is launching a new line of jeans
product that feature plastic bottles crushed up and blended through
the product. Waste<Less
jeans are composed at least 20% recycled plastic. On average, eight
12 to 20-ounce bottles will be used per jeans. Used
plastic bottles and food
trays are collected through municipal recycling programs across the
United States. They are sorted by color, crushed into flakes, and
made into a polyester fiber. Next, the polyester fiber is
blended with cotton fiber, which is finally woven with traditional
cotton yarn to create the denim used
in the Levi’s Waste<Less jeans. The color of the bottles used
created
a unique finish in the final product by
adding
a beautiful undertone to the denim fabric. The first batch of
Waste‹Less jeans has already
used 3.5 million plastic bottles all together.
James Curleigh, president of the Levi’s
brand, believes that any reduction in Levi’s cotton use, however
small, is worth it. He said “Cotton is the single most volatile
commodity in the apparel industry. Never mind sustainability for a
minute. If I could come up with a way to put 20 percent of something
else that is cost-neutral and has a reliable source, I would probably
take it anyway.”
So is it true that Levi's is trying
hard to pursue sustainability in its supply chain? Or this is just
another good publicity for the company. What are customer responses
about these products? Do they like these products? Yet Levi's didn't mention
about its financial benefit related with these products.
What do you think?
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