Why You Should Shop At Patagonia.
That $500 Sandy Liang fleece that you have wanted for so long? Or that outdoor voice pullover that looks incredibly comfortable? The Frame fleece you tried on?
While these are all beautiful pieces, we must give credit to the OG Patagonia fleece, not just for its iconic design, but for the work Yvon Choinard has pioneered toward a cleaner planet. Chouinard founded Patagonia in 1973 in Ventura, CA. His love for the outdoors began when he was very young, and he eventually taught himself how to make his own climbing gear from recycled junk. In 1965, he began Chouinard Equipment which enhanced climbing tools to be more efficient and in just five years, his brand “had become the largest supplier of climbing hardware in the U.S.” However, his gear was hurting ecosystems by causing cracks in the rock. He decided to stop producing pistons, and turned to clothes used by rugby players in the U.K. and fishermen in the North Atlantic. Patagonia began using synthetic materials, but after about 20 years, had enough money to invest in and collaborate with sustainable organizations. It invested in Malden Mills, which uses recycled bottles to create the iconic Synchilla fleece; it eliminated the use of coloring processes that demanded toxic sulfides; Patagonia used solar energy in their distribution centers and stores; it started to use organic cotton in the 1990s and began to trace its products back to the first steps of cultivation to ensure safety and sustainability.
In 2012, Patagonia officially became a Certified B Corporation, meaning it had a legal adherence to environmental standards as well as workers rights. Today, hundreds of companies are Certified B Corp. Later that same year, Patagonia established Worn Wear, its recycled textiles and repair program and blog. This past Christmas, Worn Wear urged readers to DIY their gifts or buy second-hand. In fact, on Black Friday in 2011, Patagonia ran an ad in the New York Times with a photograph of a Patagonia jacket beneath the words “Don’t Buy This Jacket.”
Going forward, Patagonia has more ambitious goals and refuses to accept its title as a “sustainable brand,” acknowledging that despite its environmental efforts, any clothing company is part of the problem. It aspires to be completely carbon positive (rather than carbon neutral, this means provoking an environmental benefit beyond offsetting emissions), expand its work with NGOs, and engage more strongly with activists.
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