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" We&amp;#039;re used to seeing the Times&amp;#039;s stories on Levi&amp;#039;s jeans in the Thursday or Sunday Styles sections, so it was nice to get the paper this morning and see the front-page story on &amp;quot;better cotton&amp;quot; \u2014 the company&amp;#039;s goal to create their much-needed crop (the fabric of our lives) using far less water. Because, as the writer points out in her excellent story, &amp;quot;a typical pair of blue jeans consumes 919 gallons of water during its life cycle \u2014 enough to fill about 15 spa-size bathtubs.&amp;quot; Right now, Levi Strauss is helping to underwrite a nonprofit program that helps farmers in India, Pakistan, Brazil, and parts of Africa learn how to conserve and recycle water. As stone-washed denim has yet another moment at Urban Outfitters, they&amp;#039;re using that technique to add patina without any H20. And, as raw denim enthusiasts have long preached, they&amp;#039;re offering now-familiar advice to their customers: Wash your pants less (or never at all), using cold water. It&amp;#039;s good for your denim, sure. It&amp;#039;s also good for the environment, it turns out. And good for Levi&amp;#039;s, too, which began this initiative after cotton prices surged due to a water shortage. Naturally, they&amp;#039;ll save money if they figure out this &amp;quot;better cotton&amp;quot; thing. And, likely, you will too. In the meantime, just stick those funky pairs in the freezer. It really works. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a11547/levis-better-cotton-program-6538840/>