Levi’s use of sustainable cotton is being recognized by one of the largest retailers in the world.
The denim brand became the first brand to have products made with U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol cotton included in Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly program.
Climate Pledge Friendly is a program that helps customers discover and shop for more sustainable products. The program collaborates with trusted third-party certifications that are widely used in the apparel and textile industry, including U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, Fair Trade Certified, Global Recycled Standard, EU Organic and more. Amazon has also developed several of its own certifications for Plant-Based Fiber Blended and Pre-owned Certified: Fashion.
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While searching for Levi’s products on Amazon, consumers can look for the leaf icon to identify and learn more about each product’s sustainability features such as worker well-being, recycled materials and safer chemicals.
The program started with 25,000 products in 2020 and has grown to over one million, according to Cam Westfall, head of Climate Pledge Friendly at Amazon. There are nearly 2,000 Levi’s products made with Trust Protocol verified cotton available in the Amazon store.
“Our collaboration with Amazon and the Trust Protocol demonstrates the power of unconventional collaboration,” Jeffrey Hogue, LS&Co.’s chief sustainability officer, stated on Levi’s Unzipped blog. “This is a situation where the three parties came together in alignment on our values and desire to bring less negatively impactful cotton sources to consumers. Now that we have done the hard work together, other brands that are committed to the Trust Protocol can join us and benefit from Climate Pledge Friendly badging.”
Levi’s began working with U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol in 2021, a year after the sustainable cotton standard was created. The program mission is is to bring quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement to six key sustainability metrics, including water use, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, soil conservation, soil carbon and land use.
“By sourcing Trust Protocol-verified cotton, and by tracking through its proprietary Protocol Consumption Management Solution (PCMS), we’re granted access to greater raw material traceability capabilities than we’ve had in the past, and we look forward to significantly expanding in the years ahead,” the brand stated.
Levi’s said it plans to make more garments with Trust Protocol cotton and explore different traceability options and technologies across its product line.
