By 2021, Gap is aiming to to source all its cotton from sustainable sources. For its Athleta active wear brand, it wants to source 80 per cent of its technical fabrics from sustainable fibers.

Wendi Goldman, Gap’s chief product officer, who serves on the Gap Foundation Board of Trustees says that he believes in actively protecting the planet. With the new sustainable cotton goal, there is an opportunity to make a big impact on the global cotton community and bring to light what’s so incredibly important to the future of garment manufacturing, what matters as a brand and what matters to customers.

San Francisco based Gap will continue to partner Better Cotton Initiative, which works with farmers around the world to improve cotton production for the people who cultivate it, the environment and the cotton sector’s future.

For Spring 2017, Gap sourced 3.8 million pounds of better cotton. Gap also plans to use other sustainable cotton such as organic, recycled and American-grown.

Over the past two years, Athleta has been working to increase the use of sustainable materials by converting materials to recycled synthetics and organic cotton. They are made into fabrics for many of Athleta’s signature styles. The brand hopes to meet its 2020 goal by partnering fiber and manufacturing suppliers. Further it plans to use more efficient fabric dyeing and finishing techniques to save water and reduce waste at the brand’s stores and headquarters.

Gap, a $15.5 billion enterprise, has committed to reducing its environmental footprint across its supply chain. By the end of 2020, Gap has committed to a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions in its owned and operated facilities worldwide from a 2015 baseline and to divert 80 per cent of its waste in the United States.