GREEN Levi's

Levi’s is making its ‘green commitment’ public with its ‘jean donor’ program. It has the foremost reputation for being a ‘green company’ of any in the apparel industry, including Nike. Levi’s has been active in ‘green’ since the early 1990s when it implemented global sourcing and operation guidelines. Even the label is ‘green’. Corporate offices even have a “Boot the bottle’ campaign for getting rid of plastic water bottles, retail stores are on alert for air conditioning that is too high and recycling is not just a word but an action for the company overall. It is also a leader in child labor restrictions, working conditions and human rights. (Levi’s was involved in a major scandal in the 1970s regarding these issues in Marianas). Moreover, Levi’s initiated a cross promotion with Proctor and Gamble’s Tide detergent within Walmart stores placing Coldwater Tide in displays with Levi’s to encourage cold water washing of the jeans to save energy. In 2007, a third party life cycle study was done to determine the environmental impact of 501s and Dockers Khakis. The most negative aspects of the products were at the cotton production stage and at the consumer use stage. New strategies were embraced to reduce water and pesticide usage and to improve working conditions for farmers. Levi’s joined the Better Cotton alliance with Ikea and Marks and Spencers to mobilize and consolidate buying power to influence these factors globally. In addition, Levi’s reduced packaging and launched the ‘Care Tags for our Planet’ program with environmentally friendly care instructions for washing in cold water and donating old jeans to charity rather than putting them in the trash. Their own studies have indicated that consumers care about the planet but they need to receive ideas about how to make a difference. Levi’s is very careful to be ‘authentic’ in all that they do pertaining to ‘green’. They know that insincerity could cost them customers permanently and that their efforts must be much more than ‘greenwashing’. They discovered the people will not pay more for organic unless there is a tangible or intrinsic value. Apparently consumers are convinced that Levi’s is a green company. MapChange, an environmental organization that assesses the ‘greenness’ of companies reports that Levi’s scored an 86% on consumer perceptions of being a green company (while actually scoring a 58% on measures of greenness- which is far superior to any other apparel manufacturer).