Levi’s was recently named one of the top most sustainable companies, just behind Patagonia, in a textiles industry that is not known for being sustainable. This is even more remarkable, considering that the processing of denim—a core material for Levi’s products—can use excessive water as well as contaminate wastewater with dyes that are harmful to the environment.

And don’t even get me started on Fast Fashion and the impact cheap throw-away clothing has on our planet, in landfills and waterways. So durability of clothing is also an important factor. And Levi’s has placed an emphasis on that as well. The company has also focused on using less water, noting, “Since introducing our Water<Less® processes in 2011 … we’ve cumulatively saved almost 13 billion liters of water as of 2020.” The company also requires facilities to recycle more than 20% of the water used in manufacturing. The company also actively shares its water-saving practices with competitors to try to work together to shift the industry by using less water.

Another important part of the whole sustainability puzzle is improving working conditions for employees and contractors, as well as finding ways to eliminate waste—in materials, energy and time. And Levi’s is excelling in this area as well. That’s where the robot come in. They are making work more efficient and enjoyable by freeing employees from performing a number of often repetitive and tedious tasks, and making more time for them to focus on more strategic activities. That resulted in allocating 25,000 hours of work to a team of in-house robots, and the goal for 2023 is a stunning 45,000 hours of work transitioned to robots.