To save the planet, Tide wants you to stop using warm water to wash clothes

To save the planet, Tide wants you to stop using warm water to wash clothes

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That’s Tide’s message in a recently launched campaign to decarbonize clothes. The goal is for consumers in North America to wash three out of four loads of clothing in cold rather than hot water by 2030, up from about half today. This would eliminate the energy consumption needed to heat cold water.

If that goal is achieved, Tide told CNN Business that it will have the same impact on greenhouse gas emissions as removing about a million cars from the roads for a year.

“There is no compensation. You will save $ 150 a year in energy costs, your clothes will last longer. And, by the way, you are helping to save the planet,” Shailesh Jejurikar, CEO of Procter & Home Care and Fabrics Gamble said in an interview. “It’s a beautiful win-win-win if we get it right.”

“These will be the defining decades for where we will end in climate change,” said Jejurikar. “If we do not control this situation in the coming years, we will pay the price. We must act now.”

‘Consumers want to do something’

In addition to its focus on cold water washing, Tide has set a new goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions in its factories by 2030. This is in addition to the progress it has already made by reducing emissions by three quarters in the past decade how the brand adopted 100% renewable energy in its manufacturing units.

Tide also plans to reduce its carbon footprint by using 100% recyclable packaging for all products by 2030 and partnering with Silicon Valley startup Opus12 to capture carbon from its factories.

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Jejurikar said that P&G wants to achieve zero emissions in its factories, but added that the way people use Tide products has 10 times more impact than what happens in its factories.

“More and more consumers want to do something. We are trying to give them a chance to take their normal daily actions and make them have an extraordinary impact,” said Jejurikar.

Instead of “preaching to people,” the P&G executive described a “fun” marketing campaign that will feature cameos from wrestling legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and rapper and actor Ice-T.

The tide says cold water is so effective

First, however, Tide must convince people that cold water can clean dirty clothes, just like hot water. This may be an even more difficult challenge now, because throughout the pandemic, medical experts have urged Americans on the importance of washing your hands with warm water to kill germs.

Tide plans to defend its position by showing that the detergent can overcome bargain marks using warm water. The company partnered with Hanes to show that this is true even when washing underwear, T-shirts and socks.

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“We have incredible technologies that ensure that consumers will not see the difference,” said Jejurikar.

Tide says its estimate for greenhouse gas reductions in the United States and Canada by switching to cold water is based on more than 25 million loads of laundry washed each year in both countries.

The brand says that moving from less than half of the cold water washes in 2020 to three quarters by 2030 will eliminate 4.25 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalence calculator indicates that it is almost the same as taking a million cars off the road for a year.
P&G (PG), one of the biggest advertisers in the consumer space, plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on cold water washing campaign in traditional advertising, social networks and inside stores.

“We are putting all the power of the marketing machine behind this,” said Jejurikar.

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