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COMM. RELATIONS GAP FOUNDATION ENVIRONMENT GLOBAL MANUFACTURING STOPPING SWEATSHOPS CONTACT US SHOP ONLINE:    gap.com    gapkids.com    babygap.com    bananarepublic.com    oldnavy.com		Let's face it: no business can operate without leaving a mark on the earth. We build stores. We use energy and natural resources. We generate waste. But that doesn't mean we don't care about the earth. We do. And we are committed to minimizing our effect on the environment. Gap Inc. is a business leader, and we want to be a leader in environmental responsibility, too. We accept this responsibility and have already taken important steps. Here is a look at how we are working to make smarter choices about our environmental impacts—every day, in the way we run our business. Respecting the Environment in Principle and Practice At Gap Inc., we believe that business profitability and environmental responsibility are not mutually exclusive. We strive to keep this in mind in principle and practice. To this end, we have developed two basic tenets to guide us in our work: We will operate with respect and sensitivity to the environment wherever we do business. We will encourage our employees to take individual steps to protect and restore the environment, and empower them to ensure that company activity is consistent with our environmental policies. Through the application of these principles, we feel confident that our environmental practice will evolve and mature, and that our ability to manage our own operations—as well as our suppliers'—will improve over time. Our employees are responsible for the bottom-line results of their decisions. Increasingly, they are also held accountable for the environmental impact of their work. Empowering Employees to Shape Environmental Policies Because we believe that environmental considerations should be weighed when making business decisions, our employees are called on to shape our environmental policies. Our environmental practice is led by Bob Fisher—executive vice president, Gap Inc., and president, Gap Division—and Gap Inc.'s Environmental Affairs department. Working with other departments, Environmental Affairs facilitates company decisions on supplier management, store construction, purchasing, transportation, energy efficiency, food services and recycling. Improving Production Processes The textile and apparel industry has not stepped lightly on the environment. Gap Inc. is committed to changing that. Although we do not own mills or factories, we are concerned about our suppliers' impacts on the earth. We work with clothing manufacturers around the world to minimize the negative side effects of their production. We educate our vendors about alternatives to harmful manufacturing practices and we try to use products that have been obtained or manufactured in environmentally intelligent ways. For example, we are working on ways to increase use of organic cotton and are looking at alternatives to electroplated fasteners. Building Better Stores and Offices Gap Inc. is one of the fastest-growing clothing retailers in the world; which means we build a lot of stores. We also frequently update, expand and redesign them. At the construction and demolition stages, we encourage our contractors to recycle wherever they can. In addition, our architects, store designers and building planners use recycled and low-toxic building materials, wood from "well-managed" forests, and energy-efficient lighting and mechanical systems to create environmentally sensible retail and office spaces wherever feasible. Reducing Waste Reams of paper, truckloads of packing material, tons of garbage—Gap Inc. works hard to reduce these side effects of big business. We encourage our employees and business partners to reduce waste, recycle waste that can't be eliminated and close the recycling loop by purchasing products that contain high percentages of post-consumer recycled material. Over the years, we have organized recycling programs in our stores and distribution centers. Employees are empowered to find re-uses for fixtures, packing material and paper products. To further minimize paper waste, employees at our stores and offices communicate increasingly by electronic mail. Rewarding Employees Who Make a Difference To date, we have not talked much to the public about our environmental efforts. That's because we've been busy figuring out what an effective environmental practice looks like. We have a long way to go, but we are making progress. Along the way, we have communicated our goals to employees, business partners and stockholders. We take our environmental performance seriously. Each year, a President's Award, which includes a gift of stock in the company, is given to the employee who has done the most extraordinary work on behalf of the community. The message is clear: we reward our employees for their commitment to finding innovative solutions to community and environmental problems. Setting Goals, Then Following Through There is no end to the job of protecting the earth. We understand this, and are committed to improving our environmental practice over time. To focus our efforts, Gap Inc. develops environmental action plans for key areas of our operations. In time, we will require the same from our business partners. The company's environmental performance will be evaluated periodically to identify opportunities for improvement. For more information, please write to Gap Inc. Environmental Affairs at One Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; or call 1-800-333-7899, extension 45550.