Make a difference
Gap
Our customers know and love Gap for great style, easy looks and bold colors. What they may not know is that our passion for designing clothes is just one of many ways that our talented employees contribute to the world.
We’re dedicated to improving the world around us and lessening our impact on the planet. Doing what’s right comes naturally to the people who work at Gap, and our employees are the heart of our company’s commitment to social and environmental good.
Our commitment to people and the planet is focused on two major efforts, namely (RED)TM and GREEN.
(RED)
Gap has expanded on Gap Inc.’s commitment to people in developing countries through our (PRODUCT)RED TM program. This program is devoted to helping eliminate AIDS in Africa.
Gap has been a proud partner of (PRODUCT)RED since it was launched at the World Economic Forum in February 2006. Gap’s (PRODUCT)RED program contributes 50 percent of all profits to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. To date (RED) has generated more than $130 million for the Global Fund and 100 percent of this money is put to work in Global Fund-financed grants to help those living with HIV in Africa. No overhead is taken out.
The Global Fund has dispersed this funding into grants for the African countries of Ghana, Rwanda, Swaziland and Lesotho. In order to maintain a constant stream of funding to The Global Fund, Gap is focused on infusing our (PRODUCT)RED collection with great designs and fresh style. The more demand we create for our (PRODUCT)RED the more we can do to help those living with HIV and AIDS in Africa.
In 2009, Gap (PRODUCT)RED launched an Artist Edition T-Shirt collection. This collaboration brings together talented artists to create a limited-edition collection of T-shirts, with proceeds dedicated to eliminating HIV/AIDS in Africa. For this important project, we hand-picked some of the art world’s top creative minds, including illustrator/designer Mike Perry, illustrator Steve Wilson, artist Jess Rotter, graphic artist Supermundane (Rob Lowe), and illustrator Hiroshi Tanabe. These limited-edition T-shirts bring wearable works of art to our customers while giving them the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people affected by AIDS in Africa.
In addition to our work with (PRODUCT)RED, we support the Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight HIV/AIDS (ALAFA) which we helped to launch in 2006. This initiative seeks to bring workplace-based treatment to workers living with HIV in Lesotho, an African country where Gap Inc. maintains ongoing production.
GREEN
Virtually everything we do has an impact on the planet — from the materials we use in our clothes to the way we ship them to more than 1,000 stores.
Our parent company, Gap Inc., assesses the environmental footprint of all its brands and looks for ways to minimize environmental impact across the company. We participate in many company-wide environmental initiatives, including the Denim Clean Water Program. We require all denim laundries to participate in this program, based on BSR's strict guidelines. This means that the water used in washing our jeans has been specially treated to ensure that it’s safe and clean for local communities when it leaves the denim laundry.
In addition to these company-wide efforts, Gap brand employees are continually finding new ways to ensure that our business operations tread lightly on the environment. Sustainability has become a part of our culture. Across the company, Gap’s employees have developed innovative programs and groups that are focused on integrating sustainability into the work we do every day.
In 2008, we began to transition our packaging to recycled paper. Among many other initiatives, we also developed gift cards made of 88 percent recycled content, and we significantly reduced the amount of cardboard boxes used to ship our product.
This year, we launched a campaign to help employees learn waste-reducing disposal behaviors at our headquarters buildings. In the first four months alone, we increased our recycling efforts by 61 percent and reduced our overall waste pick up by 50 percent. We also developed a game to help employees rethink how they approach trash. Want to play? Click here to see how well you fare at sorting trash. (Please note that the rules apply to San Francisco County only).
Since the day we were founded 40 years ago, Gap has remained committed to doing the right thing: for our business, for local communities and for the planet. Today this passion is still intrinsic to our company culture and guides and inspires our employees in the work they do every day.
