Patagonia is in the business to save the planet, says CEO Rose Marcario.
Outerwear Saves the Planet
As climate change becomes very real, and President Trump continues to ignore its impact, clothing brands are stepping up and doing more to save our planet. One brand, Patagonia, is striving to do more good and less harm.
In an updated mission statement, Pategoinia pledges to save the planet. “Patagonia is in the business to save our home planet,” reads the outerwear brand’s updated mission statement.
New Mission Statement, Old Values
Patagonia has always been breaking the mold in terms of groundbreaking strategies to save the planet. For example, in the 90s, their strategy around sustainability was considered groundbreaking. This California-based company has also been working on its activism for the past 35 years.
As consumers become more informed than ever and climate change becoming increasingly tangible this outerwear brand has strived to be much more proactive. They even recently upped their efforts in speaking up for environmental issues, and supporting its consumers to do the same.
“The reality is we have been proportionally responding to what’s happening,” explains Marcario, rather than making a conscious effort to be louder. For example, it recently donated $10m from tax cuts it received from the Trump administration to environmental causes. It also openly backed two political candidates in Nevada and Montana who had sustainability at the core of their campaigns, and launched the Patagonia Action Works platform, enabling its community to give back locally.
Does Sunstainability = Risk?
Some argue that it is no place for an outwear company to concern themselves with sunstainability. Other’s claim that it could be risky as consumers are fickle, and is global warming even real?
However, Patagonia believes the brand’s success has been a natural evolution, as it started as a catalog company in the 70s and therefore has always had a close relationship with the consumer.
“For us it hasn’t been a big risk. We’ve been funding activism for three decades,” she adds, saying that so far the company has given over $100m dollars to grassroots environmental programs, partly because it knows how little funding goes towards environmental NGOs.
