The world has been fixated on going green, and now the attention is shifting beyond recycling and eco-chic living to a growing concern for the planet’s water, according to Ford’s 2014 Trends Report.
Ford identifies this trend as “Sustainability Blues” and says forward-looking brands are already investing time and money into better water management practices.
The report cites Levi’s WaterLess jeans, which use a technique that reduces water use in the finishing process by up to 96 percent for some styles. In 2012, Levi’s 29 million WaterLess jeans saved more than 360 liters of water.
Ford says its own water-saving initiatives — such as its dry machining process, also known as minimum quantity lubrication or MQL — helped Ford reduced global water use by 62 percent, or about 10 billion gallons, between 2000 and 2012. The company has set a goal of cutting water use 30 percent per vehicle by 2015.