Original style. Responsibly made.
GOOD. CLEAN. COTTON.
Cotton is in our jeans and our genes. We’ve been using it since the first pair of Levi’s® was crafted in 1873. Today, it makes up 90% of our raw materials, which means it has a huge impact on our environmental footprint. As one of the world’s most resource-intensive crops, cotton takes more water and pesticides to grow than most. We’re doubling our sustainability efforts, so the jeans we make are easier on the planet.
100% OF LEVI’S® COTTON WILL BE
SUSTAINABLY SOURCED BY 2021.
What do we mean by sustainable?
• Cotton that minimizes the resources used in cultivation
• Cotton grown with fewer chemicals, which promotes healthier soil and cleaner water systems for local communities
• Cotton grown by workers earning fair wages in safe conditions
We’re also supporting industry-wide change by continuing to invest in the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a global program that trains farmers on more sustainable practices. (You can learn more about it on our blog). So far, BCI has reached 1.5 million farmers, which accounts for about 19% of the world’s cotton production.
We recently visited a BCI farm in California to see how sustainable cotton impacts the farmers who grow it. Here, Tony Azevedo and Jerred Barba of Stone Land Company share their stories:
What are the BCI basics?
Jerred: The Better Cotton Initiative is about growing cotton while reducing greenhouse gasses, pesticides and water usage. It’s growing the most complete crop with the least input possible.
What influenced your decision to farm more sustainably?
Tony: I’m a third-generation cotton grower in Stratford, California. Our family has been farming here for 70 years. This is our land, and we live off of it. We made a decision years ago that we wanted to be more sustainable, and that’s why we implemented these (BCI) practices.
How have these changes affected your employees?
Tony: Reducing the number of chemicals that we use greatly benefits our workers. They’re not exposed to as many harmful materials. Our employees have been with us for years and for multiple generations. I can’t run a farm by myself. We all work together. Their well-being is really important to me.
We’ll never stop looking for more ways to be part of the solution — from sourcing better cotton to inventing sustainable design practices.
