Adventures In Patagonia

 Patagonia has been one of my favorite outdoor clothing brands for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when I first learned of their existence, but I have early memories of my dad who was a mountaineer/climber/caver wearing their clothing and speaking favorably about the company.

I also remember getting my first Patagonia t-shirt and being told that this was special as it was organic cotton and that it did not contain any GMOs. I would wear that on many of my early adventures climbing and caving or fossil hunting along the coast in the NorthEast.

Patagonia was originally founded by Yvon Chouinard who was originally a climber in France in the 50's. He started out making climbing equipment to sell and grew this into an apparel business. After a trip to Patagonia, ironically with the founder of ‘The North Face,’ the brand Patagonia was born from Yvons love of nature and conservation. From these beginnings the company now makes over 1billion in sales every year.

I wanted to write this post for several reasons, first to show what an excellent sustainable choice Patagonia still is for lovers of the outdoors, and secondly, to write about how and what they do to ensure that all these years later they are still ethical and sustainable.

Many brands as they grow loose their roots and the passion that they started with – but not Patagonia. While other large brands make empty promises on how they will be sustainable by ‘blah blah date’ Patagonia is doing it – proving that it can easily be done.  Here are just some of their commitments to sustainability and some of my thoughts on their products:

 

Materials

Patagonia has been committed to sustainable materials since its early beginnings and this has included using natural materials like organic cotton along with recycling as much material as possible.

Recycling started for Patagonia goods in the early 90’s where they used recycled plastic for the now classic ‘synchilla fleece’. By 2008 they had expanded into using recycled nylon, wool, cotton and down. This use of recycling for not only plastic but natural fibres has had a huge impact on the carbon footprint of the company. The initial stages of growing natural fibers such as cotton are the most resource intensive, cutting this out means that they can keep their carbon footprint low!

Recycled plastic is a great option for reusing plastic that has already been created but plastic clothing is not the best choice on our skin. However, nylon and polyester are the best choice for SOME outdoor clothing as they are more durable and don’t have the same issues as cotton. Cotton absorbs too much moisture and is bad at temperature regulation – a bad choice if you are hiking in changeable weather. This makes it unsuitable for a base layer especially in cold conditions. In terms of coats and trousers, this is often where you need a plastic (recycled plastic) solution to ensure durability and that you stay dry!

Read more about recycledplastic here.

For the best natural baselayers if you don’t want synthetics click here

Anti-Consumerism

Aside from better materials Patagonia are also proudly anti-consumerism and this is reflected in their campaigns such as the 2011 'don't buy this jacket' campaign. This ethos and the lack of resource spent on trying to encourage customers to buy things they don’t need can be clearly seen in their marketing activity or lack thereof.

Care and Repair

Building on the above they also have a repair service which is free! I think is amazing for an outdoor brand! I have never personally used this as I haven’t had anything needing to be repaired but I will update this if I ever do.

Many people complain about the cost, however if you have free repairs the price for wear is much cheaper than other alternative brands. They also have their new Worn Wear scheme promoting repairing, sharing, and recycling gear (in specific limited locations).

Environmental and Social Causes

Patagonia is proudly a brand that supports activism. They are very supportive of social causes and donate 1% for the planet – which is ace! They also are currently supporting 1432 grassroots projects which mainly focus on local environmental projects. Although there are a lot of causes that they support that I personally don’t agree with and I feel like they need to be careful how these are positioned, I think it is great that they are committed and passionate.

Regenerative agriculture

Patagonia have also been one of the brands piloting a new environmental certification called ‘Regenerative Organic Certification’ which is still in its infancy. The three pillars of Regenerative Organic Certified is soil health, animal welfare and social fairness and it aims to be a more all-encompassing certification.  As I was researching Patagonia’s new activities and projects, I was very intrigued by this as it is the first time I have heard of the certification!

I love the concept and it is refreshing to see a new, bolder certification that is also broad. I am considering writing more bout this as it is certainly needed on both sides of the Atlantic.

Read myposts about Regenerative agriculture here.

 

“We stand in most places on earth only 6 inches from desolation, for that is the thickness of the topsoil on which all life on the planet depends.” R. Neil Sampson

 

All the above along with the commitment to both performance and style, is why Patagonia has always been my favorite outdoor equipment brand. I understand people’s comments on price but there are loads of second-hand Patagonia products available for those who can’t afford first hand. I also do believe that the price point is a reflection of the quality. There are other outdoor brands that I would consider sustainable (see my favorites here) and as someone who is passionate about sustainability, I fail to see how you can be passionate about the outdoors without caring about the environment.

It has been quite disappointing in some respects over the past 2 years, to see such a growth of people being more interested in hiking, climbing, and exploring the natural world but not being as passionate about caring for the environment.  Now, when I hike to bothys and climb Snowdon all I see is people who are spending a fortune on cheap clothing that has contributed to destroying the environment and litter all over the place. If we all want to enjoy hiking and exploring rural areas this should also mean supporting sustainable brands and respecting the environment.