Smart water use is at the heart of a sustainable fashion industry. The fashion industry has always relied upon abundant amounts of water to produce the clothes and shoes we wear.

Both cotton and wool, two favorite natural fibers use a lot of water. It takes more than 100 gallons to produce one single pound of raw cotton or shorn wool and that doesn’t include what is needed for rinsing and preparing the product, or washing and dyeing the fabric once the material is made.

More than 20 per cent of the world’s commercial products are produced in water-scarce areas of the globe. That includes the clothes and shoes we wear, which increasingly are being made in developing countries like China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Apparel companies have come to realize that the way clothes are produced has a direct impact not only on the world’s valuable clean water resources but on the apparel industry’s bottom line.

Companies are on the cusp of solving this problem by creating water- and chemical-free dyeing processes. Levi Strauss is known for its innovative and inveterate brainstorming when it comes to conserving water. Its contributions have spanned from creating production methods that require less water to inducing consumers to wash their jeans not more than once every two weeks.