What Makes Patagonia A World Leader In Sustainability?
© Photo by Malik Skydsgaard on Unsplash
April 29th 2021 - Author: Fabian Vermum
In 2019 Patagonia received the UN Champion of the Earth award in the category: outstanding entrepreneurial vision. The award was established by the UN Environment Program in 2005 to “celebrate outstanding figures whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment.” (UN-environment).
I have previously outlined how Patagonia incorporated sustainability in their DNA since day one here. Patagonia has realized multiple initiatives for the environment. Examples are:
The Worn Wear program An e-commerce shop where you can buy secondhand Patagonia products. That should encourage customers to purchase used clothes instead of new ones.
1% for the planet Patagonia’s founder Chouinard has donated 1% of the company’s annual sales to good causes. In 2002, Chouinard co-founded the non-profit 1% for the Planet. By joining 1% for the planet, companies also pledge to donate 1% of their sales. Renowned members include Honest Tea and Boxed Water.
Action works A website that allows you to connect to local/regional environmental protection groups.
Patagonia also has ambitious goals for the future. They aim to be carbon-neutral by 2025, source 100% of their energy from renewable energies, and increase their percentage of recycled materials. Let’s look at how successful their progress is by looking at their last sustainability report. To have a better overview, we are splitting the CSR report into three sections: Donations, Product, and Activism.
Product
For every apparel company, their products cause the biggest environmental harm. Thus, it is crucial to look at how Patagonia develops its products to reduce unnecessary harm. The Californian company has successfully transformed the worn-wear program into a valid business. That resulted in a 40% growth over the last year. They have published repair guides in six languages to transfer their repair knowledge to its customers.
More importantly, other industry competitors like The North Face and Arc’teryx, have adapted this strategy. They also installed secondhand distribution opportunities. It cumulated in the release of the new Arbor Pack collection. The new backpack is made predominantly (68%) from recycled materials.
However, not all is rosy. The percentage of recycled materials went down (35–31%). Simultaneously, the use of plant-based materials increased only marginally (15–16%) while wool and animal products increase from 1–5%. Patagonia states that this is due to the rising popularity of the worn wear program. Because they resold many articles more than before the launch, there was less product to recycle. But the company also addresses that there is currently no solution for products that can’t be resold.
Activism
Over the last years, Patagonia has drastically increased their involvement in activism. It all started with the revolutionary New York Times cover. Over the previous years, they have repeatedly hit the headlines with political campaigns such as Vote the a**holes out, or The President stole your land. Those marketing campaigns were often connected to petitions and secured global recognition for the promoted environmental causes.
It seems as if Patagonia is shifting away from pure advertising towards activism promotion. By doing so, Patagonia strengthens their brand identity and can gain new brand lovers. In a podcast, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert explicitly stated that he does not want anybody to purchase Patagonia apparel that is not behind their mission. Patagonia is not looking for more trend-buyers. They want to have brand lovers.
With every marketer now being focused on Gen Z, it is interesting to see that the younger generations prefer to buy from sustainable companies (62%) and are more willing to spend extra money on sustainable clothing. Between 2013–2018, sales of sustainability-marketed products increased by 50% (Forbes). These numbers show that Patagonia seems to be well-equipped to serve the upcoming generation’s needs.
The outdoor company has also further improved its internal activism. They have launched a global Zero-Waste Week to raise awareness for the current pollution crisis. To accelerate the innovation process, Patagonia has partnered with 124 teams of university students. That signals a 15% growth over the previous year. Their sole goal was to find solutions that help the company to reduce single-plastic use.
Donations
Like I pointed out before, Patagonia has a long history of donating to good causes. Between 2018 and 2019, the Californian brand has donated an extra $10 million in addition to 1%. That was possible because of the saved money that resulted from Trump’s tax reduction.
What sets them apart are the internal volunteer programs. Patagonia allows its employees to dedicate up to two months of the annual working time to support environmental conservation projects. All while being paid fully. But Patagonia does not stop here. They are trying to cut down their internal carbon footprint by reducing the number of single-vehicle trips by their employers with their Drive-Less program. The program seems to work as there was a 16% decrease in those harmful trips.
Besides that, Patagonia also tries to implement fair trade practices among its whole supply chain. They have managed to increase the size of their fair-trade portfolio by 7,200 workers (from 42k-49,2k) and increased the percentage of Fair-trade production from 24–45% compared to the previous fiscal year.
© Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash
FUTURE
My first reaction after reading the report was overwhelmingly positive. Then I started to ask myself questions. Like Socrates taught me to. Does Patagonia do enough to keep its pole position when it comes to sustainability?
Before jumping to any conclusions, I want to analyze Patagonia’s current evolution. When it comes to the overall BCorp score, it has stayed the same since 2016 (151.5–151.1). But sustainability is never easy. That is why Patagonia harnessed the power of data. Most minimum wages set by governments don’t allow workers to feed their families or even afford childcare. Together with the Institute of Technology (MIT) Patagonia analyzed its supply chain. The results are somewhat shocking. Only 45% of their current suppliers pay a living wage.
That brings us to another problem. By exposing data like that Patagonia, risks exposing itself to criticism. In a worst-case scenario, they could lose customers, and even worse they could lose their clean image. There is no easy answer to this problem. Patagonia cannot rely on other companies to expose themselves as well. Transparency is no problem when the numbers are good, but it might be even more important when the numbers are not flattering. If Patagonia can establish a culture of constructive criticism, other companies could follow suit. Just like in the case of the Worn Wear program, Patagonia could again lead the industry.
Patagonia has pledged to become a carbon-neutral company until 2025. Going even further, they are working on becoming a true zero waste company. Here, Patagonia has already lost the pole position and is only looking to keep up with the companies like Ecosia who are already taking the next step: Becoming carbon positive.
Industry leaders in sustainability need to realize that being carbon-neutral is not enough anymore. When Patagonia wants to stay a leader in sustainability, it needs to reach higher. Going Zero Waste is a first step, but it is still a long way to go. Extending the collaboration with universities worldwide could be a good starting point to create innovative ideas. I expect a big surge in university programs in the future.
Probably the most pressing question is if Patagonia can keep up with the most recent technology developments. In an interview Miriam Lobis an apparel-specialized consultant lays out where the technology for sustainable clothing could go in the future:
“Imagine that your style adviser tells you, “You haven’t worn these blue shoes in a while. Don’t you want to resell them?” (McKinsey)
Other technological trends are the development of a circular economy (more on that here) and 3d printing. Adidas has already revealed some of the mission: “Futurecraft”. Adidas is currently testing to use 3D printers to battle storage and logistic emissions. The shoes will be printed from recycled plastic too. Imagine the positive environmental impact when storage and shipping is eliminated. Even if their core business is not sneakers, Patagonia needs an answer to those sustainable innovations.
No industry leader is safe from being overtaken by a new, and more innovative company. Sustainability is a buzzing trend right now and this always attracts more competitors. Patagonia has the skills and abilities to defend its position at the top of Mount Rushmore.
Patagonia’s lead is shrinking, and it needs to start investing in sustainable innovations to maintain its place among the pack. However, in comparison to other companies, Patagonia is aiming for a more holistic approach when it comes to sustainability. Their efforts in donations and especially activism are unmatched around the world.
Top takeaways
Through their leadership in sustainable business, Patagonia has driven other global brands to adopt more sustainable practices
Patagonia has shifted its marketing towards activism promotion
New trends in fair fashion include circular economy and 3d printing
© Photo by Malik Skydsgaard on Unsplash
Related links
If you would like to read another related article about ways to reduce plastic pollution, visit: https://somewang.com/15-ways-to-reduce-plastic-pollution/
