Retailers Such As Gap And IKEA Call For The Protection Of Water Resources.

In from August 25th to 30th, the 2019 World Water Week (World Water Week) conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden. The theme of the conference was "Water for Society: Including all" (water to society: everyone has a share). The conference was issued and organized by the Stockholm International Water Resources Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as "SIWI") for 29 years.

The World Water Week conference attracted the participation of water experts, enterprises and media from more than 100 countries and regions. Many famous brands and retailers discussed how to make safe use of water, protect water sources and manage water resources, and called for action to promote water resources protection.

According to the WHO, by the year 2025, half of the world's population will be living in water scarcity areas. Population growth, climate change, economic and agricultural expansion and deforestation have brought greater pressure to the world's limited water resources.

Torgny Holmgren, executive director of SIWI, emphasized the importance of using water resources to solve global challenges. He said: "in our society, many people do not know the important role of water in achieving prosperity, eradicating poverty and coping with the climate crisis. We can change this cognition together and bring the potential of water related solutions into full play.

As we all know, people's clothing, food and shelter can not be separated from water, especially clothing. The clothing industry has a great impact on water resources.

Gap group

According to Lisa Hook, member of sustainable innovation Department of Gap, Gai Pu, about 20% of the world's fresh water pollution comes from the clothing industry, such as laundries, factories and other facilities.

In addition, the clothing industry has also consumed a lot of water resources from raw materials to production. Cotton, for example, needs a lot of water to grow cotton, and it takes nearly 4 tons of water to produce a pair of jeans. Lisa Hook said: "Gap regards water as one of human rights. Without water, Gap can't do business."

To this end, in June of this year, Gap group announced that all cotton would be purchased from sustainable sources by 2025. Its brand Gap plans to purchase cotton from more sustainable sources by 2021; Old Navy will increase the supply of sustainable cotton to 100% by 2022; Banana Republic will also raise all cotton to a more sustainable level by 2023.

"We are proud to make innovations in protecting natural resources and create cleaner and safer lives for families around the world," said Keith White, executive vice president of global sustainable development at Gap group. Buying cotton in a way that reduces water consumption and destroys climate is to create a healthy environment for our children and future generations. "

As consumers attach importance to environmental protection, enterprises and brands have to make changes to retain consumers.

IKEA

As the largest retailer of home furnishings in the world, IKEA (IKEA) has been committed to reducing the amount of water used in the operation process while improving the recycling rate of water resources to attract environmental users.

According to Kajsa-Stina Kalin, director of IKEA's Department of health and sustainable living, IKEA has more than 1 billion passenger traffic worldwide.

Kajsa-Stina Kalin said: "with increasing pressure on climate change and population growth, IKEA is also struggling to meet the challenges of water resources. Customers are increasingly inclined to choose green products, and many people no longer go to companies and brands that do not have sustainable development consciousness.

As early as last June, IKEA promised that all products would only use "renewable or recycled materials" by 2030. In June 7th last year's Democratic Design Day activities, IKEA also showed a series of new solutions to help people save water and clean the air, and innovative products made from recycled materials, including water faucets that can save more than 90%, and textiles that help to purify the air at home.

Inter IKEA Sustainable Development Manager Lena Pripp-Kovac said: "to truly achieve recycling means to meet people's changing lifestyles, extend the life of products, and use resources in a more intelligent way."