WhatÍs in a Label? GapÍs New Clean Water Wash Messaging

Authors

• Ayesha Barenblat

  Former Director, Stakeholder Collaboration, BSR

Stop by any Gap Inc. store this month, and you’ll come across their new jean line—the “1969 Premium Jean”—a brand touted as “born to fit.” While these new jeans are marketed to fit and feel better, there is something extra special about this denim line: Turn the jeans inside out and you will see on the inside pocket a new “Clean Water Wash” label including a message stating that the water used to wash and dye the jeans was treated to meet safety and quality standards before being returned to the environment.

This is an interesting move on Gap Inc.’s part that I hope does not go unnoticed. Consumers are increasingly looking for a clearer understanding of the sustainability impacts of what they wear. This Clean Water Wash label is a proactive effort by Gap Inc. to communicate and engage with consumers—a move I hope triggers more consumer interest in ensuring that the water used in making their jeans respects human health and the environment.

This label also illustrates the work Gap Inc. has done behind the scenes to engage further upstream with dye houses and mills. First-movers such as Gap Inc. realize the inherent risks of not engaging suppliers further up in their supply chain and recognize that retail customers and end consumers are demanding greater traceability of products.

As recent news reports indicate, ensuring clean water use throughout supply chains can also be challenging, and engaging suppliers upstream is by no means an easy task. This specific group of suppliers has historically had no direct relationship or engagement with retailers. There are also challenges of government engagement and collaboration with other retailers to assure sustainable conditions. At BSR, we hope that these activities help to improve conditions across the apparel industry and in the countries in which it operates.

Moving from factories to mills and dye houses is an evolution. For Gap this remains a journey. This Clean Water Wash label, for example, has been five years in the making. As a member of BSR’s Sustainable Water Group, Gap built their Clean Water Program for its denim laundries worldwide in close concert with other retailers. Gap has also been a founding member of BSR’s Mills and Sundries Working Group, which is committed to engaging with tier-two suppliers to improve social and environmental conditions in their facilities. Both working groups are founded on the basis of collaboration between retailers and their supplier partners, which is the only way to assure improvements, since each retailer has limited leverage on its own.

If this new label reinforces Gap and other retailers’ commitment to continually engage and improve conditions upstream and raises greater awareness among consumers, then in my mind this label is a resounding success.

So the next time you shop for a pair of jeans, ask the sales representative at the counter, “Can you tell me about the water used in these jeans? Was it safely treated?” After all, no matter how great those jeans look on you, you wouldn’t purchase them if they contaminated a water supply somewhere upstream, right?