Gap Inc. Celebrates Earth Day 2021

Gap Inc. is celebrating Earth Day! Its purpose-led lifestyle brands: Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta, are working hard on progress towards their bold sustainability commitments. Last week, Old Navy announced its goal to eliminate plastic shopping bags by 2023 in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and to have all North America stores participating in its hanger recycling program by the end of 2021.

“Reducing waste is an important part of our commitment to protecting natural resources and ensuring healthy communities for generations to come,” said Sally Gilligan, Head of Strategy at Gap Inc. “We’re proud to continue advancing progress towards our sustainability goals through leading innovation and industry partnerships.”

Empowering Women, Enabling Opportunity, and Enriching Communities

Gap Inc.’s purpose, Inclusive, by Design, is expressed through efforts focused on empowering women, enabling opportunity, and enriching communities. Recognizing that women are disproportionately affected by climate change and water scarcity, the USAID Gap Inc. Women + Water Alliance pledges to improve access to drinking water and sanitation for 2 million people, of which 1 million are women, by 2023 in India’s textile manufacturing communities. To date, Gap Inc. has already empowered 650,000 people to improve their access to water and sanitation, reached over 120,000 women with water education, and developed over 1,000 local water security plans. Energy and water are precious resources, which is why Gap Inc. is pushing its brands to use less water and to implement renewable energy throughout the production process.

Sustainable Product

Each of Gap Inc.’s purpose-led lifestyle brands has expanded more sustainable product and practices. Earlier this year, Athleta enabled its climate ambitions when their solar farm in North Carolina came online, helping offset 100 percent of their operational footprint. Eighty-seven percent of Old Navy’s denim assortment incorporates water-saving techniques. Gap continues its Gap For Good commitments, including saving water through the Washwell program. Ninety-one percent of Gap denim is part of the water-saving Washwell program that has enabled Gap to save over 402 million liters of water since 2016 – enough to fill 804 million water bottles compared to conventional wash methods. In addition, Gap recently launched its most sustainable collection of apparel yet – Generation Good, icons made of organic and recycled fabrics that check all the boxes on Gap's Good List: less waste, less water, lower emissions, better materials, and support for workers. At Banana Republic, over 60 percent of the materials used in its 2021 Spring Collection are from more sustainable sources, including denim styles that are designed and constructed with recyclability in mind.