SDG Decoded: SDG #6- Clean Water & Sanitation
In the first installment of SDG Decoded—in which Carved in Blue checks-in with the denim industry to gauge and share progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals—we’re bringing the focus to Goal #6: Clean Water & Sanitation.
Not surprisingly, this particular SDG is relevant to many processes along the denim manufacturing chain and is rightly being taken seriously by the industry’s leading activists. In fact we received so many story submissions that we’re already planning a second installment of SDG #6 updates in the near future.
Here we’re sharing what Officina+39, Triarchy, DL1961 and Saitex are accomplishing and learning when it comes to good water stewardship.
Officina+39
Carved in Blue: How are you tackling SDG #6?
Andrea Venier, managing director: We are concentrating our efforts in terms of R&D mainly for SDG #12 [Responsible Consumption & Production] and SDG #6. That’s the reason we created TRUSTAINABLE™. For us, this new word means innovation, sustainable practices, clean information, transparency and social responsibility. The big challenge was to become TRUSTAINABLE™, first with our ethical mindset. For a chemical company, that is the real challenge.
Carved in Blue: What does this goal mean for your company?
Andrea: TRUSTAINABLE™ practices include use of less hazardous chemicals, minimizing the impact of surrounding environments, recycling waste, reducing power usage and water conservation (developing more processes able to work with the nebulization systems, like Core from Tonello or e-Flow from Jeanologia). In particular, we are really focused on the market’s development of our Recycrom™, the recycled dye made from textile fibers from used clothing and manufacturing waste.
As with all new technologies, the real task now is to scale-up. We’re exploring all of the possibilities that new technologies can give us. That’s really exciting for us, and it gives a lot of energy to pursue the goal.
Carved in Blue: How do you see this shaping up for 2020?
Andrea: I really hope in 2020 the brands will ban potassium permanganate from the industry. A lot of innovative replacements can now be used, so 2020 is the right time to act.
Triarchy
Carved in Blue: How are you tackling SDG #6?
Adam Taubenfligel, founder and creative director: Clean water and sanitation is of the utmost importance to me personally and to Triarchy as a brand. Being in denim for 10 years, I’ve had the opportunity to see how water is handled across the globe, and for the most part it’s handled incorrectly. It is over-used, over-polluted and discarded carelessly.
Water is the world’s most valuable resource, and so shining a light on how to use water responsibly while manufacturing a product that traditionally consumes a lot of it is what we set out to do.
We strictly manufacture using machines that use up to 98 percent less water than traditional laundry equipment, and then the water that is used is recycled back to usability. In theory, you could drink the recycled water, but we haven’t put that to the test yet; instead it’s used to water plants.
Additionally, we have a give-back partner, Isla Urbana, whose mission objective is to build and install rainwater catchment systems for people without access to fresh water in and around Mexico City. This allows freedom to freely harvest this precious resource that is usually restricted by the government.
Carved in Blue: What does this goal mean for your company?
Adam: Goal #6 is the cornerstone of the SDGs for us. Denim and water have always been synonymous, but what excites us is creating a new relationship regarding the consumption of water to make our favorite piece of clothing.
Carved in Blue: How do you see this shaping up for 2020?
Adam: We continue to look toward the innovators in the tech world—the ones who make the equipment that makes this water reduction a reality. We work with them, we share our feedback on visual optics for washes, and collectively we figure out how to do it with as little impact as possible. The more we are all collectively supported, the quicker this agenda will move.
DL1961
Carved in Blue: How are you tackling SDG #6?
Zahra Ahmed, CEO: The average pair of jeans uses approximately 1,500 gallons of water to make, while the average pair of DL1961 jeans uses less than 10 gallons. For us, being a sustainable denim brand is defined by our water consumption. By using water-efficient botanic fibers like TENCELTM and REFIRBRATM Lyocell, in combination with several waterless production techniques, we are able to dramatically decrease the impact of our denim. Using technology to track each jean’s energy and water consumption, we can identify areas of improvement and areas of investment to further protect our resources.
Carved in Blue: What does this goal mean for your company?
Zahra: For a denim brand, conscious production is a necessity, and that involves a commitment to continuously improve and protect natural resources, the most crucial of which is water. We measure our success by the reductions we make in our consumption of resources and continue to explore avenues to offer customers sustainable and ethical options.
Carved in Blue: How do you see this shaping up for 2020?
Zahra: Consumers are excited to learn more about brand initiatives around sustainability. For us, that means being transparent about our partners and our processes so that they can make stronger decisions around purchases.
SAITEX
Sanjeev Bahl, founder: 0.1 percent of Saitex’s monthly profit is dedicated toward social impact. Our efforts include funding 1001 Fontaines’ Water in Schools program in Vietnam for 2019-2020, providing free clean drinking water to 4,400 children in the Mekong Delta as well as reusable water bottles for each student. We bring the water back to standards that are stricter than the World Health Organization’s drinking water standards.
Saitex will also offer pro bono support of their water treatment systems, as well as educational materials and workshops on the importance of clean water. We have also donated two water filtration machines to two local orphanages.
Furthermore, Saitex invested in a multimillion water treatment plant in 2018. Denim laundries require large amounts of water and chemicals that too often are not removed from the water before it being discharged. As with its social efforts, Saitex cleans all the water used and elevates it to standards stricter than that of WHO’s.