Cotton and water use

Cotton and water use

·         Only 0.01% of water on earth is drinking water that is readily available to humans. 2.5% of water on earth is drinking water but only 0.3% of this is available to us.

·         Cotton accounts for 90% of natural fibres used in the fabric industry and it needs the extremely large amounts of water to grow successfully. Cotton is grown where conditions are dry so it is very costly getting the cotton all the water it needs; it also uses up limited water supplies.

·         Cotton has the largest carbon footprint out of any crop worldwide.

·         One pair of cotton denim jeans takes 10,000 litres of water to create, to put this into context an average adult uses 165 litres of water a day.

 

 

http://store.levi.com/waterless/doingyourpart.html

Water<Less

·         Levi have launched a new campaign and clothing range called Water<Less. As the company mainly uses cotton based products they are aware of the environmental impact this has and they huge amount of water they use.

·         On their campaign page above they are trying to educate the consumer on just how much water everyone uses each day without realising. They also suggest lifestyle substitutes to help create a more sustainable way of living.

·         After a customer buys a product from Levi the way they care for it at home can have the largest environmental impact, the company suggest that you wear your jeans more and wash them less to help the planet, they also recommend not using a tumble dryer when possible.

·         Levi’s new Water<Less range has already saved them using 170 million litres of water. They have removed the water in many of the processes that the denim goes through and have found that the effect is very similar without the use of water. Some of their items from the range have been created with as little as a quarter of a cup of water.

·         Although this is a really positive thing that Levi are doing as they are saving so much water, the way the cotton grows is still a a major issue as this is where most of the water is needed. Alternative fabrics need to be substituted that do not need the level of water that cotton needs as the production of cotton is straining the earth’s natural resources.