Innovative Partnership Challenges Public to Reduce Water Consumption, Accelerating an End to the Clean Water Crisis

KANSAS CITY, MO (MARCH 22, 2012) – This World Water Day, Water.org and the Levi’s® brand are launching "Go Water<Less," a new interactive campaign encouraging people to adopt a Water<Less™ lifestyle and experience what life is like for the nearly one billion people worldwide without clean drinking water.

By visiting the interactive Levi’s® Water<Less™ campaign site www.levi.com/waterless, globally conscious consumers can learn more about the global demand for clean water and the small actions they can take each day to use less and give more. The "Go Water<Less" challenge inspires people to adopt a lifestyle that is ever more conscious of water as a precious resource and helps provide water to those without. Each challenge completed will "unlock" WaterCredits and ultimately support expanding Water.org’s groundbreaking WaterCredit initiative.

Pioneered in 2003, WaterCredit applies the principles of micro-finance to the water sector. Through WaterCredit, individuals receive loans to access safe water and sanitation. By providing small loans to those who do not have access to traditional credit markets, WaterCredit empowers people to immediately address their own needs. Through the Levi’s® brand’s support, WaterCredit will ensure more than 20,000 individuals have access to safe water over the next two years.

"The Levi’s® brand continues to be committed to the water issue and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them for the second year in a row as part of a global movement to inspire and empower others to join us and make a difference for our planet and for those in need of clean water," said Water.org Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Gary White. "Social media is one of the easiest and most effective ways to raise awareness and rally more and more people around the cause. Using Facebook Connect, the Levi’s® Water<Less Challenge provides an engaging opportunity to take concrete action by using less water at home, and simultaneously make a real impact by bringing clean water to those in need around the world."

The Levi’s® brand partnership is part of an integrated Water.org campaign to drive awareness of and action on the global water crisis. Water.org has also teamed with twenty-nine water sector partners in support of a social media campaign in which users "Donate their Voice," creating awareness among their friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter.

Coinciding with the launch of the Levi’s® Water<Less™ campaign and reinforcing the Levi’s® brand’s commitment to sustainability, the brand also announced the expansion of its Water<Less™ jeans collection. Recognizing that the average pair of jeans uses 42 liters of water in the finishing process, Levi’s® Water<Less™ products reduce the use of water in the finishing process by up to 96 percent for some styles. The Levi’s® brand has already made more than 13 million Water<Less™ products and saved more than 172 million liters of water.

"We challenged ourselves to operate at the intersection of style and sustainability. Our Water<Less™ collection delivers on the great style and finish the Levi’s® brand is known for, but are made with significantly less water," said Erik Joule, Senior Vice President of Global Merchandising and Design of the Levi’s® brand. "We’re excited about the results we’ve achieved so far, and we know we can make an even bigger impact by applying this innovative thinking to other aspects of our production process. Sometimes, the way to achieve a more sustainable design is to rethink a traditional process and find a way to do it better."

"At Water.org, we apply the best thinking from the private sector, the public sector, and the financial markets—wherever breakthrough ideas exist—to solve the water crisis," said Matt Damon, Co-founder, Water.org. "With partners like the Levi’s® brand, we move closer to ending the global water crisis, creating a better life for future generations."