BEAUTY OF BECOMING, A CONVERSATION WITH JADEN SMITH ON WORLD WATER DAY
At Levi’s®, water has long been a central issue. In 1992, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) established the apparel industry’s first wastewater quality guidelines—guidelines that were then scaled to include all of the brand’s garment manufacturing suppliers in 1994. In 2011, Levi’s® introduced its Water<Less finishing technique, which today accounts for the finishing of at least least 70 percent of Levi’s® jeans and Truckers. To date, Water<Less has helped us save more than 4 billion liters of water in manufacturing, and we’ve saved another 9 billion liters through water recycling programs. We’re scaling the use of hemp, which uses less water than conventionally grown cotton, in our products. And through our 2025 Water Action Strategy, we’ve pledged to halve our manufacturing water use in areas of high-water stress by 2025.
Jaden Smith shares this commitment to water. In 2019, he co-founded the environmental non-profit 501CTHREE, which works to provide clean drinking water to underserved areas. Using their own mobile water filtration system called The Water Box—which was developed in response to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan in 2014—the organization has distributed over 38,000 gallons of safe, free water to places like Flint, Newark, and Los Angeles’ Skid Row.
And with the arrival of World Water Day 2021—a day first designated by the United Nations back in 1993—it’s a chance to reflect on the progress made towards addressing the world’s water crisis, and, more importantly, to look forward towards what needs to be done. So, as we all work to raise awareness around water access and clean water, here’s a glimpse of what Levi’s® and Jaden Smith have to say on the subject.
