If you are looking for environmental activism inspiration for your business then look no further than Patagonia.  Patagonia are makers of hi-tech outdoor clothing and produces a range of items that are made from re-cycled materials and organic cotton.

What? more, since 1985, Patagonia has pledged 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment through the One Percent for the Planet business alliance.  

One Percent for the Planet is an alliance of companies that recognize the true cost of doing business and donate 1% of their sales to environmental organizations worldwide.  Through their corporate giving, grants and philanthropy, they encourage responsible business and corporate responsibility.

In the UK, you can buy Patagonia clothing from Field and Trek. 

In the US, you can buy Patagonia clothing from Amazon. 

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John Robertson said:

I'm alarmed when I see Pategonia quoted among the green or the ethical shortlist of companies. Just recently they were listed in the Observer, a UK national newspaper, for a leather shoe costing 120 pounds and made in China. I tried to find out on their web site why it was called ethical. I saw a job advert for a factory inspector. Nothing in the job description suggested that working conditions were going to be inspected, although the buyer's job descriptions all include a clause about the company's fairness to workers policy or some such. It seems a long way down the list, as, of course, you would expect of a firm that sources in an autocratic state where working conditions cannot be checked-up on. Next: why leather? The recent UN report "Livestock's Long Shadow" and the vegan society's more digestable "Eating the Planet" download both suggest that you cannot be green and go for leather, quite apart from the inevitable cruelties. Rather than try to find a link to either of these, I'll quote the first paragraph of the UN report and don't pretend to have read the whole thing! "Summary: This report aims to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation. The assessment is based on the most recent and complete data available, taking into account direct impacts, along with the impacts of feed crop agriculture required for livestock production. The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Livestocks contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency. Major reductions in impact could be achieved at reasonable cost."

December 18, 2007

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