After noticing that a large amount of the environmental impact of their products was at the hands of consumers, Levi’s introduced the Care Tag For Our Planet. The care tags inside the garments encouraged the end-users of their products to not only wash their clothes at a lower temperature and line dry where possible, but also to donate their clothes to Goodwill once they were deemed used. Goodwill would then sell those clothes in its stores to help fund job training programs, community based programs for people with disabilities and employment placement services. This initiative is good in two ways: It encourages end-users to consume fewer resources and also to prolong the lifetime of their clothes.
With the knowledge that nearly 24 billion pounds of clothing go into US landfills each year, Levi’s realised that there was a gap to do good. It is a shame to think that perfectly good clothes are left to rot, take up landfill space and miss out on use when there are people out there in need. After understanding the full lifecycle of their jeans, this responsible consumption initiative from Levi’s shows that they are on trend not only in terms of their fashion but also in terms of their care for the planet.
By getting their consumers involved and allowing them to feel like they were part of the solution and not the problem, Levi’s has done some powerful brand building. For a consumer to feel they are part of your brand is a great way to reinforce positive associations and hopefully do some good at the same time.
“As a company, Levi Strauss & Co. is committed to building sustainability into everything we do.” John Anderson, CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
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