Given our operations, two of the biggest areas in which we can create a positive environmental impact are energy and water management. In both cases, what’s good for the environment is also good for our business, as we improve efficiencies, save money, and help address and mitigate the risks of climate change in the communities where we live and work.
All of these areas are important for our future success. Climate change, as our Board member and former CEO Bob Fisher has described, could have a direct impact on our business. For example, the apparel sector depends on producing cotton, a crop that requires water and favorable growing conditions. Climate-related events such as drought or flooding threaten our global supply chain and increase the price of goods.
We’ve been working to address these issues for much of the past decade. Since 2003, we’ve participated in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Climate Leaders Program as well as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to track our progress in reducing energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Click here to view our complete 2010 CDP Response.
In order to meet the broad scope and high degree of transparency required by both initiatives, we collect and report on GHG emissions data for our owned-and-operated facilities in the U.S., which include our stores, distribution centers, and headquarters buildings. In 2009, we were pleased to report that we reduced our GHG emissions by 20 percent per square foot between 2003 and 2008, exceeding our Climate Leaders goal of 11 percent over that five-year period.
We are now working toward a larger target. We’ve made a commitment to reduce absolute GHG emissions in our U.S. operations 20 percent by 2015, compared to 2008 levels. Though we are a global company, we are focused on our U.S. stores and facilities, as they continue to represent more than 75 percent of sales. Informed by our environmental footprint assessment completed in 2009, this goal is an ambitious one and will require significant effort across our company.
2008 - 2010 GHG emissions
Note: Values are in metric tons of CO2e
We continue to make changes and measurable progress across Gap Inc. in support of this goal. For example:
In our stores, managers are finding ways to reduce energy use with the help of our Energy Management Program. The program identifies stores with high energy use and works with managers to ensure that they’re focused on energy conservation. To help them succeed, we provide training materials and tips on reducing energy use along with targets for store-level energy reduction (in kilowatt-hours/square foot).
In our distribution centers, we’ve replaced lighting fixtures with energy-efficient fluorescent lights that maintain quality lighting while significantly reducing our energy use and costs. By replacing more than 16,000 lightbulbs, we’ve reduced our electricity consumption by approximately 40 percent. We’ve also installed a one-megawatt solar array at our distribution center in Fresno, California, which generates approximately 1.9 million kwH annually – the equivalent of the electricity required to power approximately 350 homes for a year.
In our supply chain, one of our global initiatives is our Water Quality Program. Implemented over the past six years in denim laundries that finish products for our brands, this program ensures that wastewater created in this process is treated properly before being discharged. At the end of 2009, this program became one of many requirements for doing business with Gap Inc., and we have set a policy that 100 percent of Gap Inc. branded jeans must be produced according to these standards.
