Our Efforts to Conserve Water
What to know
Through innovation and investment, we’re reducing our water footprint and collaborating on regenerative water projects around the world.
For the past decade, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has listed water crises and impacts from climate change among the top five global risks. With 91% of NIKE’s overall freshwater footprint tied directly to materials sourcing and manufacturing, responsible freshwater use in our supply chain is a critical way we can help protect the future of the planet. Through innovation and collaboration, we’re building on years of work to reduce our overall freshwater footprint.
Growing cotton accounts for 69% of our overall global water footprint. To reduce and better manage our water use, we’re continuing to focus on strategies that reduce water consumption during the growth phase. Organic cotton lifecycle assessments show this farming method reduces water consumption in the growing phase since organic cotton farming happens more in rain-fed areas than those that require irrigation. We’re expanding our use of recycled cotton because it bypasses the growing phase entirely.
NIKE’s watershed restoration work focuses on our extended cotton supply chain. In addition to reducing our freshwater footprint, restoration projects reduce pesticide runoff, improved soil health, and improve community access to water depending on local needs and conditions.
In 2021, NIKE, Inc. completed two water restoration projects in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy. In India, we supported converting 30 hectares of farmland to drip irrigation in the state of Maharashtra, benefiting 75 farmers (17 of which were women). Gayini Nimmie-Caira, 84,000 hectares of biodiverse wetlands and floodplains in Murray Darling, Australia, is now legally registered as a conservation area. This designation will help restore cultural heritage sites and medicinal food plants; transfer ownership to the Nari Nari community (the Traditional Custodians of the land); unlock perpetual conservation funding; and protect the habitat of hundreds of species. We are expanding our water restoration project portfolio over the next five years to reach our 2025 target.
We have laid the groundwork to reduce the water used to dye and finish textiles, which makes up 22% of our overall freshwater footprint. In FY20, we shared freshwater use data to our suppliers, including information about how each supplier ranked compared to their local and global peers. We’ve then collaborated with them to develop plans to reduce their freshwater use between now and FY25.
We are supporting our suppliers in properly training people to responsibly manage water and treat wastewater. Capability building takes several forms. We leverage NIKE’s Water Minimum Program to outline the basic expectations for our suppliers to adopt water industry best practices. We intercept emerging issues within our supply chain to enable suppliers to maximize their freshwater efficiency and provide training on best practices by water industry experts. We also support suppliers in adopting the ZDHC Wastewater Treatment System Operator Minimum Qualifications Guideline
As part of the Microfibre Consortium (TMC), Nike is leading the development of guidelines to control microfibres and microparticles in textile wastewater and the research to create better ways to measure mircoparticles.