Patagonia is an outdoor apparel retailer based in the United States. Its headquarters are in Ventura, California, and it was created by Yvon Chouinard in 1973. In a variety of categories, including climate change, pollution and toxics, human rights, supply chain management, animal rights, social financing, and political activity, Patagonia has performed well. Is Patagonia actually investing in environmental, human, and employee protection, or are they just putting numbers up?
First and foremost, Patagonia’s most important strategy is environmental protection. This firm cares deeply about the environment and contributes a significant amount of money to combat climate change. According to BBC news, “a $10 million (ÂŁ7.83 million) donation was made by Patagonia to help combat climate change in August 2019” ( Ethical Consumer, 2020). Futthermore, Patagonia has made significant progress in terms of modifying underwear packaging to help protect the environment from excessive plastic and trash. According to Patagonia statistics, “this practice kept twelve tons of material from being shipped around the world and eventually being discarded and dumped into landfills, and it saved the company $150,000 in unnecessary packaging” (Chouinard, 2016, p. 160). Patagonia is one of the firms that is concerned about the environment and working to preserve it for future generations.
This firm is concerned not only about the environment, but also about the quality of the product, and it will not sell messes to its devoted consumers who would be unsatisfied. According to Chouinard, “Patagonia’s profits are directly tied to the quality of their product and a quality presentation will always outsell messiness” ( 2016, p. 159). Moreover, Patagonia is not exerting undue pressure on customers to pay higher taxes; rather, they are charging their fair portion of what is required of them. According to Chouinard, “We don’t play games with the taxman or auditor. Our tax strategy is to pay our fair share but not a penny more” ( 2016, p.162 ). Patagonia’s sole goal is to remain a small, privately held company so that they may continue to focus on doing good.
Rajwant Kaur and Rajni Bala
References
Patagonia Outdoor Clothing & Gear. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://www.patagonia.com/home/
How ethical is Patagonia’s work? Ethical Consumer. (2020, March 20). Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/patagonia-works
Chouinard, Y. (2016). Let my people go surfing: The education of a reluctant businessman, including 10 more years of business, is unusual. Penguin Books.
16 April 2022 at 4:44 am
Hello Rajwant and Rajni,
I read your blog post and your post is very informative and interesting. I agree with you that Patagonia’s most important strategy for long run business is concerning about environmental protection and Patagonia also donates money to help combat climate change in August 2019.To add up more I would like to say that Patagonia also focus on Sustainability Strategy which include Product, Donation and Activism. One of the interesting aspects of this strategy is that ,this company promote second hand business market of Patagonia garments. In this way this company got success in the worn-wear business program. Moreover, founder of this famous company donates 1% of the company’s annual profit for the planet (Jerry, 2021). Patagonia has a goal to make carbon-neutral company by the end of 2025 and for achievement of this target Patagonia makes many of its product from reusable and recyclable material (Jerry, 2021).
Overall, the donation and activism strategy make this company as a leading company in terms of sustainability as compare to other famous companies. So, we can say that Sustainability innovation strategy and environmental strategy programs are the base of the Patagonia company for its holistic development.
Jerry, T. &. (2021, April 19). What makes Patagonia a world leader in Sustainability. Medium. Retrieved April 15, 2022, from https://medium.com/climate-conscious/what-makes-patagonia-a-world-leader-in-sustainability-486073f0daa
17 April 2022 at 4:33 pm
Hello,
This topic is new for me. Thanks for sharing an informative blog with us. I read about it and found it much needed for our planet. I would like to add some interesting facts about Patagonia.
As per The Fact Shop website, From early in the company’s history, they have made steps toward reducing their environmental impact, including using recycled content paper in their catalogs and using solar tracking skylights in their distribution center.
Patagonia’s mission statement is “We’re in business to save our home planet.”
The brand continuously adds new environmentally friendly fabrics into its supply chain, including hemp and fabrics created from recycled plastic.
About the Author: Michelle Gabriel Michelle Gabriel is a freelance writer and blogger and currently loving it! Her primary focus and passion is traveling, & Michelle Gabriel is a freelance writer and blogger and currently loving it! Her primary focus and passion is traveling. (2021, June 3). 30 inspiring facts about Patagonia. The Fact Shop. Retrieved April 17, 2022, from https://www.thefactshop.com/fashion-facts/patagonia-facts
17 April 2022 at 7:12 pm
It is a very interesting blog; I appreciate your research about Patagonia – an ethical sound strategy. I didn’t listen to and read about Patagonia prior to reading this blog about how Patagonia aims to overcome its negative impacts on the environment, climate, and labour.
Furthermore, as per my perspective, you should have shed more light on how Patagonia reduces the harmful impacts on the environment. Just like the highest percentage of its products are made from polyester, nylon, hemp, organic cotton, and wool, and 70 percent of its items are produced from recycled materials, such as plastic bottles. Moreover, Patagonia designed a campaign “don’t buy this jacket” to handle the problem of commercialism Wolfe, I. (2022, February 22). While the brand has implemented greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities throughout its supply chain to reduce its climate impacts. In addition, Patagonia recently updated its mission statement that “we’re in business to save our home planet” and by 2025 US outdoor clothing brand Patagonia wins the UN Champions of the Earth award. (2019, September 24). It aims to utilize 100 percent renewable materials which reflect the urgency of the environmental crisis. Its campaign to protect the planet’s atmosphere is driven by merchandise made by the entire enterprise and substances used to donate finance for environmental issues.
In conclusion, there is no doubt that Patagonia uses recycled material moreover its products are comfortable and of high quality, and its goal is to save the planet rather than to increase its sale making it different from others but it focuses to reduce the detrimental effects on the atmosphere.
Wolfe, I. (2022, February 22). How ethical is Patagonia? Good On You. https://goodonyou.eco/how-ethical-is-patagonia/
US outdoor clothing brand Patagonia wins UN Champions of the Earth award. (2019, September 24). UN Environment. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/us-outdoor-clothing-brand-patagonia-wins-un-champions-earth-award