Water use: denim's real impact

Why does it take so much water to make a pair of jeans?

While the fashion industry is one of the world’s largest polluters¹, denim is one of the most water-intensive garments to produce².

Denim usually contains a high percentage of cotton – anywhere from roughly 70 to 100%. While natural fibers, like cotton are oftentimes more recyclable than their synthetic counterparts, cotton production is resource intensive. In fact, cotton growing and processing requires large amounts of water, which is especially problematic in water-scarce regions, and usually large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers are used.²

To help reduce the cultivation of virgin cotton, Recover™ offers brands low-impact, high-quality recycled cotton. Paired with a carrier fiber, like organic cotton, jeans or denim products made with recycled fibers can have a real positive impact – especially when to scale.

With data based on our third-party verified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), we have calculated that:

One pair of jeans made with Recover’s recycled cotton can save up to 220 liters, or 58 gallons of water.

Applied on a global scale, the potential impact is huge.

100 000 pairs of jeans made with Recover's recycled cotton can save up to:

20 000 000 liters, or 5 800 000 gallons of water = 8 Olympic size swimming pools

Closing the loop on fashion: Denim Edition

Recover™ is proud to partner with sustainably-minded partners like DL1961, Tillys x RSQ, REVOLVE x Lovers and Friends, and others, to create more sustainable options for a circular future.

Sources:

¹ https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/03/1035161

² EMF. A New Textiles Economy