LS&Co. Unzipped

Jan 05 2011

Cutting Carbon in the World's Workshop

When you buy something made in China, chances are it was made where I live, in the Pearl River Delta, one of the fastest growing regions in the world.

The Delta is made up of Hong Kong, Macao and nine municipalities in the Guangdong Province of Mainland China. It’s a major manufacturing base for garments and textiles, electronics, toys, and much more. In fact, there’s so much manufacturing here, the Pearl River Delta is sometimes called “the world’s workshop.”

You’d be hard pressed to find a better place to help industry reduce its carbon footprint. And that’s why my organization, the World Wide Fund of Nature (WWF) is here. (By the way, in the United States and Canada, we're known as the World Wildlife Federation.) We believe, “there’s work to be done.”

Part of that work is our Low Carbon Manufacturing Program, which is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions generated by the manufacturing facilities in the Delta. And among the manufacturers participating in this voluntary program are three that make product for Levi’s®, Dockers® and Denizen™.

Since Levi Strauss & Co. has long been on the forefront of building sustainability into everything they do, it makes sense that their manufacturing partners share their vision.

WWF’s ultimate goal is to build a future where people live in harmony with nature. Part of that means figuring out ways to minimize the impact that business – manufacturing, commerce, jobs – has on the environment.

The Low Carbon Manufacturing Program is, we think, a great step toward such harmony. It works not unlike the LEED certification for “environmentally friendly” buildings. In our case, companies commit to monitoring and reducing carbon emission levels in return for different levels of achievement – Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

With more and more consumers – around the world – paying attention to the issue of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, there’s not only an environmental benefit to our program, but also an economic one. An increasing number of consumers want to know that the brands they’re supporting are acting responsibly.

Levi Strauss & Co. is in great company. Other well-known brands connected to WWF’s carbon emissions reduction program include Hewlett Packard, IBM, Nokia and Sony, all of which manufacture products in the Pearl River Delta.

We’re excited Levi’s®, Dockers® and Denizen™ suppliers here are part of the solution. We think you should be, too. When you buy their products, you know you’ll be supporting a company that not only says it’s making a difference…it’s actually doing so.

Posted By: Karen Ho, WWF-Hong Kong
	Tags: Levi Strauss & Co.,LS&Co,Planet,Social Responsibility,Sustainability

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