With the weather changing I’m suddenly hyper aware of all of the new bright spring clothes jaunting up and down the sidewalk. Bright pink skinny belts and matching loafers and the like.
While the clothes are optimistic, I can’t help letting a gnawing cynicism creep in. There’s no doubt that a lot of the garb I’m seeing comes from stores like H&M and Urban Outfitters–stores that sell trendiness at high volumes and at the lowest possible cost. These are clothes with a miniscule life cycle–built to not last.
However, if you own a Patagonia spring jacket or fleece, chances are you’ve had it or plan to hold onto it for a while. Still, there’s an inherent irony built into a store that promotes engaging with the outdoors and nature and, at the end of the day, encourages folks to buy more stuff that consumes energy and ruins that natural world.
Recently Patagonia looked this contradiction straight in the eye and found the courage to address it. Patagonia took a bold move by asking customers to buy less and extend the lifecycle of their products for as long as possible in order to “own up to all the harm we do and do our best to put an end to it.”
Patagonia courageously calls for “a new economy” which is focused on reducing overall consumption of things we don’t need–their products included. CEO Rick Ridgeway puts it this way:
The fundamental assumption that we can continue on a growth economy is flawed in the long term. We need to start talking about what we are going to do about it.”
Corporate philanthropy is usually about providing feel-good bandaid solutions to systemic problems. It’s rare for a manufacturer/retailer to question fundamental, underpinning systems as big as capitalism. But, like us Patagonia is a B Corp, so questioning how things are done is in their DNA.
And while they’re helping reimagine Capitalism, they’re taking steps to make sure they’re doing what they can to limit impact their clothes have on the environment. Patagonia has taken the following steps on their mission:
- They offer to repair any ripped or damaged clothes for a small fee on 10 day turn around
- They help you sell your used Patagonia clothes via their branded Ebay Channel and their own used clothing store
- They provide links to resources that make the case for reducing consumption like The Story of Stuff
- Offers a detailed care guide to empower customers to make their Patagonia stuff last a long, long time
Here’s a video manifesto they put together calling for a different kind of economy.
How do you manage to buy less? Do you think Patagonia is being hypocritical?
