LS&Co. Unzipped
May 23 2010
Denim into Dollars. Literally.
We’re always looking for ways to lessen our impact on the environment. That’s my responsibility as head of sustainability for Levi Strauss & Co.
I recently traveled to Torreon, a city of about one million people located in the high northern desert in the Mexican state of Coahuila.
We have a supplier there with whom we’ve worked for almost a decade. And they’re doing some innovative work on sustainability.
This is a large supplier, and they have a central fabric warehouse and cutting room, where the denim fabric is stored and cut into patterns that are shipped to nearby factories to be sewn into Levi’s® jeans.
What I saw was quite exceptional. At the cutting room, all of the denim scraps left over from cutting the fabric was collected and packed into bales. They look just like the white raw cotton bales the fabric comes from, although these were blue denim scrap bales.
And guess what happens to them?
They’re sent to a company in the United States that breaks down the denim scraps into paper pulp, some of which is used by the government to make U.S. currency.
Denim into dollars. Literally.
There are some other cool things going on in Torreon that I’ll share with you soon. In the meantime, just know that the money in your jeans may have almost been … your jeans!
Posted By: Michael Kobori, Vice-President, Sustainability, Levi Strauss & Co. |
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Tags: Denim |
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2013
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Mary (not verified) - Feb 15 2013
Please bring back 100% cotton jeans!!!!
Deb (not verified) - Jan 10 2013
I used to buy women's 550 100% cotton jeans. Now all I can find are the jeans with spandex. I want to be able to buy jeans in the same weight denim that my hysbands levis are, not the thin stuff that they are selling to women now. I have been buying levis for many years. (40++) If you can make denim for men in the heavier weight denim for the men, why not for the women? Please bring the levis back that I loved to wear so I don;t have to look elsewhere for jeans!!!! Deb
Editor's note: Hi Deb, you're right that our Women's 100% cotton jeans aren't as prevalent as they once were. I'll pass along your thoughts to the Levi's® brand team, so they're aware of your interest. I might also recommend that you do occasional searches of Women's product on Levi.com, using the terms "100%" and "Cotton" to see what pops up for Women. Thank you again!
Zachary Burton (not verified) - Sep 22 2012
I made a $50 bet with my dad three years ago that we had forgotten about until now. Our bet was that I couldn't name what a dollar bill was made out of, thinking hard on it I said denim. He told me I was wrong and that was that. But I recently heard that denim is used in the process of making money so the bet is back on. So my question to you is, Is there denim in a paper bill? And if so, when did they start putting it in paper bills? Thank you for your time, Zach
Editor's note: Hi Zachary, and thanks for your questions. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's website says "paper" currency is 75% cotton and 25% linen. Our vendor in Torreon shared the information with us about what happens to the denim scraps. I'm not sure how long they've been working with the contractor that provides turns the denim into pulp for the U.S. government. Sorry that I don't have any more specifics for you. Good luck on the bet!
Barbara Richards (not verified) - Dec 10 2011
I am so happy to see so many women upset about not finding 100% cotton jeans. I spend hours on the internet looking for them - and most of the time the results come back 98% cotton, 2% spandex. That is NOT all cotton. Beyond what everyone else has said, I would love to find a pair of 100% cotton jeans - DARK WASH! Come on Levis - go back to your roots. Why turn away all the women/men who have worn your products for years? We represent the largest number of buyers and yet everyone is targetting the 20 somethings??? Doesn't make sense.
Daniel Rustin (not verified) - Jul 12 2010
This is a fascinating use of the denim scraps. It has me thinking that as an acrylic sheet manufacturer, we could incorporate your scrap denim within a cast acrylic sheet which could then be used to produce point of purchase displays, fixtures, and counters for your eco-friendly branding efforts. I develop the new products for our company and would be happy to work with you on a joint project like this. It meshes very well with our environmental acrylic sheet products and could be an excellent co-development project.
Melissa Green, Supervisor, Levi's Outlet (not verified) - Jun 01 2010
I think this is so cool. What an interesting fact! I wonder what percentage of US currency could have possibly been the jeans I have on today. I turn my jean scraps into bracelets and headbands, If only I could turn them into $100 bills! Great Stuff!
eduardo rodriguez (not verified) - May 27 2010
muy interesante saber que no se desperdicia nada y saben que no contaminar es lo mas importante gracias por esta publicacion
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