Metrics

Levi's conducted a life cycle assessment of a pair of 501 jeans and concluded that because the cleaning of jeans has significant carbon and water impacts, consumer engagement is a key strategy to improving environmental performance [1].

For example, considering the cradle-to-grave impacts of a pair of jeans that last two years, the LCA found that reducing washing frequency from once per week to once per month reduces the carbon footprint and water withdrawal by 48% and 35% respectively [1]. This is shown within the figure to the left. Such reductions clearly have potential, with research for WRAP recently finding that around two in five people would consider wearing clothes for longer before washing them [2].

1. Levi Strauss & Co, 2009, "A Product Lifecycle Approach to Sustainability"
^2. WRAP, 2012, Valuing Our Clothes