Saving water is a cornerstone of Colgate-Palmolive’s 2025 Sustainability Strategy, crucial to our overall mission to create a healthy and sustainable future.
We’re taking action to ensure water stewardship, security and resilience across our value chain, protecting ecosystems and supporting water access in our communities. That means we take care of water and conserve its use, help people gain access to safe water and mitigate risks associated with water scarcity.
This work isn’t new to Colgate. Between 2002 and 2020, we’ve cut in half the amount of water we use to make our products. We’ve also enlisted our suppliers, NGO partners and consumers in myriad Save Water initiatives.
Now we’re expanding on that foundation and setting even more aggressive targets.
By 2025 we will:
- Engage 100% of our material suppliers with operations in water-stressed regions to take action on water security
- Achieve Net Zero Water (as defined by USGBC LEED Zero Water) at our manufacturing sites in water-stressed areas (and at 100% of our manufacturing sites by 2030)
- Reduce our manufacturing water intensity by 25% vs. 2010
- Embed sustainability (including water stewardship) into each phase of the product design and development process
- Promote water conservation awareness with our Save Water messaging to 100% of our global consumers, with a strong focus on water-stressed areas
- Provide 1 million people with access to clean, safe water & sanitation systems
To achieve these goals, we’re taking a holistic approach, collaborating with everyone who touches our business.
We’re taking action to ensure water stewardship, security and resilience across our value chain, protecting ecosystems and supporting water access in our communities.
Partnering with Suppliers
Colgate wants to encourage water-security best practices among our suppliers. We’re reaching out to gather water-use data and working with suppliers to improve outcomes in water-stressed regions. Such water-footprint analytics will influence our decisions on which ingredients we use and where we source them.
Optimizing Our Operations
At Colgate’s manufacturing sites we remain laser-focused on withdrawing the least amount of water from the environment.
Since launching in 2016, our “Save Water” public awareness campaign has led consumers to save an estimated 206 billion gallons. The campaign shows how a small change like turning off the tap when you brush your teeth can make a big difference. And since water and wastewater treatment systems are energy-intensive, every drop of water saved means less energy used. We estimate consumers contributed to an avoidance of 10.8 million metric tons of CO2 emissions thanks to those 206 billion gallons going unused.
As we embed sustainability into each phase of R&D, people will also be discovering new products that ship without much water in the package - like toothpaste tablets from hello and CO. by Colgate, dish soap like Palmolive Shake & Clean, and hand soap like Softsoap Foaming Tablets.
Improving Water Access for Health & Hygiene
Unfortunately, billions of people today still do not have reliable access to clean, safe water -- even in healthcare settings. Together with NGO partners like Water for People, we’re committed to providing 1 million people with WASH services [water, sanitation and hygiene].
Working together, we will help enable new tools and technology; advocate for smart water management and equitable policies by governments; and bring scale to new and existing initiatives.
It won’t be easy or simple. But by doing everything in our power to achieve global water security, we will be reimagining a healthier future for all.
