Today, I will be sharing about Patagonia, a successful American clothing company that is wholly committed to the environmental cause and how their business model is exemplary for others to follow.
Patagonia was started 40 years ago by a mountaineer and blacksmith, Yvon Chouinard. Over the years, Yvon realised the need to address our environmental crisis and positioned Patagonia as one of the pioneer companies in giving back to the environment. Some of its environmental sustainability efforts include:
- Committing itself to a 1% “tax” by donating 1% of its annual sales to environmental non-profits organisations. (1% for the Planet, 8 October 2019)
- Using 100% organic cotton in their products which are certified by Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS).
- Discouraging fast fashion by offering a recycling and repairing programme, known as Worn Wear, to their consumers.
One of the most impactful campaigns was in 2011 when Patagonia published a full-page New York Times advertisement on Black Friday, one of the US’s craziest sales day to convince consumers to buy only what they need.
When I first saw this ad, the first thing that came to my mind was:
Is this just a greenwashing gimmick?
Was that what came across your mind too? Well, it turns out that it wasn’t. Patagonia was, in fact, trying to convey to consumers to buy only what they needed and avoid buying excessively. Check out Patagonia and what they say about the ad here.
It can seem rather terrifying for businesses to think about how an anti-consumerist message would cost them. In contrast to the planned obsolescence approach most clothing companies utilize these days, Patagonia discourages fast fashion and tries to extend its clothings’ lifespan. Yet, its sales have been increasing over the past few years.
Why is this so?
Some of the reasons are:
- Having a clear message and being as transparent as possible, thereby attracting environmentally conscious consumers.
- Creating high-quality products that will last a long time, therefore showing to its customers that purchasing their products is worth it.
With increasing concern about the environment these days, greenwashing gimmicks are simply everywhere. One striking example is H&M’s new Conscious line. It puts up an eco-friendly facade by using green tags but is way too vague about how their products are sustainably viable. Furthermore, their used clothing recycling programme is but a thinly veiled sales promotion to encourage rampant consumerism.
The differences between Patagonia and H&M are stark, despite both being well-known clothing companies. Patagonia promotes a genuine pro-environmental agenda by making high-quality clothes and encouraging their consumers to buy less, whereas H&M despite trying to maintain an environmentally friendly facade, ultimately urges its customers to keep buying.
No matter what eco-friendly policies these clothing companies take, the fundamental solution to curb fast fashion is to reduce rampant consumerism. Hence, the power lies with the consumer i.e. people like us. We can boycott and oppose the current planned obsolescence approach that clothing companies take and send a strong message against such wasteful and environmentally damaging practices.
In conclusion, fast fashion is one of the main causes of climate change but it is not beyond our power to change. 🙂
References:
- Mountain Climbing. [Image]. Retrieved from: https://www.rei.com/dam/vagnini_091316_0507_training_exercises_for_climbing_14ers_lg.jpg
- Patagonia Logo. [Image]. Retrieved from: https://www.iceagetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/Patagonia-logo_featured_1-1404×778-c-default.jpg
- H&M Conscious Line. [Image]. Retrieved from: https://www.mdpi.com/sustainability/sustainability-06-06236/article_deploy/html/images/sustainability-06-06236-g001.png
- Don’t Buy This Jacket Ad. [Image]. Retrieved from: https://www.marketingweek.com/case-study-patagonias-dont-buy-this-jacket-campaign/
- (One Percent for the Planet, 8 October 2019). Retrieved from: onepercentfortheplanet.org
Hey guys! I just came across an interesting NY Times article on how to buy clothes that last! This is an alternative to thrift shopping and clothes swapping 🙂 I think that it’s a great idea to purchase a few articles of clothing that can last you many years, so you don’t even have to go thrift shopping that often.
The link is: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/sustainable-clothing.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
(I can’t seem to make it open in a new tab, sorry!)
Hi Letitia,
Great post ! Maybe you and Evelyn could have a chat sometime – she wrote a post about H&M with a slightly different viewpoint.
Also she (oh yes, and Deborah I think), like you, touted organic cotton as the environmentally-friendly alternative to trad cotton – a claim I challenged them on.
Might make for an interesting conversation.
PS, I have a couple of articles by Patagonia and I’m not gonna lie, its stuff is definitely built to last.
Hi Letitia ! Ophelia here! I really enjoyed reading this post as I feel that Patagonia is a role model for so many companies out there such as H&M! While you did your research on this, did Patagonia receive any backlash from their own staffs since it is unpopular for a company to come out as anti-marketing? Anyways, I love Patagonia!
Hi Ophelia!
What goes on in a company is often confidential, however in this video by Patagonia, Rick Ridgeway, vice president of Environmental Initiatives at Patagonia mentioned that it took him and founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard “quite a while” to convince their employees to adopt a company-wide anti-consumerist message. Besides, many employees at Patagonia are often mountaineers or surfers. Thus, I believe that their constant interaction with nature makes it easier for them to understand the position where Yvon and Rick were coming from.
Thanks for dropping by! 🙂
– Letitia
Hi Letitia!
Thank you for sharing about Patagonia! :–D I think it’s really cool how such a company would choose to operate with such a mindset of encouraging customers to buying only what they need, and still be doing relatively well.
However, do you feel that their efforts do effectively encourage consumers to consumer less? Especially since a lot of times, consumers buy based on what they want, and not only whether their clothes are getting old or worn out etc.
Hi Ann Shin,
Thanks for dropping by! True enough, Patagonia’s sales have been increasing over the years despite efforts to persuade consumers to buy less. While I’m unsure if Patagonia’s consumers are only buying its products out of need, their apparels are way above your average price tags so that itself would deter most consumers from buying their products in excess. I hope this answers your question!
– Letitia
Thank you for share. how to make a great article like this?
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