Levi Strauss on Sustainability
Levi Strauss and Co. is a leader in sustainability, both social and environmental. This video shares some of our sustainability highlights.
Transcript
at levi-strauss and company we believe
to make a difference in the world you
have to lead for us leading began with
creating something that people truly
needed in 1873 we invented the first
blue jeans by using copper rivets and
denim to make trousers that could stand
up to the work of building the West we
quickly learned that leading goes beyond
meeting people’s needs by tapping into
the spirit of consumers over the years
we’ve renewed people’s love of our
products again and again inventing the
category led to innovating one with the
Dockers brand our khakis blurred the
lines between work and play dress and
casual
bleeding means breaking with traditions
to match the spirit of the times back in
the 1930s our lady Levi’s were the first
blue jeans designed specifically for
women a bold step then for women and the
company one of our latest innovations
for women curved ID a revolutionary fit
system based not on size but shape while
people know our company through our
products the way those products are made
is just as important we were among the
first to launch labor health and safety
standards firm era workers during the
Depression shorter work weeks ensured
that none of our employees were laid off
we integrated our factories well before
the law required it 30 years ago when
the world was confronted with the AIDS
crisis we responded with an employee
education program one of the first of
its kind we were also the first major US
company to offer full medical benefits
to employees domestic partners as we
have grown as a company we’ve learned
that our success is directly tied to
that of the communities where we live
and work the Levi Strauss foundation was
founded to coordinate the company’s
charitable giving and has distributed
more than 280 million dollars in grants
around the world as an outgrowth of this
commitment we started community
involvement teams as a way to partner
with local charities that led to
community day an annual event were
employees in more than 50 countries
around the globe spend today giving back
to their communities through more than
150 projects we’ve also learned that
being a leader means asking hard
questions of ourselves how can we not
only reduce our environmental footprint
but also show the way for positive
change throughout our industry we were
among the first to introduce
environmental requirements at the
factories that make our products a
lifecycle assessment of our product
shows us new ways we can reduce the
impact it has on
planet and our care tag for the planet
reminds consumers how they can reduce
their environmental impact when washing
and drying their clothes as a founding
member of the better cotton initiative
we’re encouraging farmers to use less
water and fewer chemicals to grow this
important crop and our waterless
collection features a revolutionary
process that dramatically reduces the
amount of water used to finish our jeans
we do all these things not because we’re
told to but because leadership means
staying one step ahead it means thinking
big and not backing down from issues or
topics that seem insurmountable we’ve
proven we can make an impact and by
taking the lead on critical issues
inspire others we’ve been guided by the
same values since 1853 they’ve defined
the type of company we want to be one
that makes products the world loves that
believes in improving the lives of
workers and communities and that honors
the obligation we all have to our planet
to make a difference in this world you
have to lead
you
