Patagonia’s transparent fabric makes them who they are
Last fall, Patagonia launched an inconspicuous microsite called the Footprint Chronicles. The purpose of the site is to track the environmental and social impact of a handful of the company’s retail apparel offerings. Good and bad. I love it. And I’m excited to hear that Patagonia plans on tracking another 10 products on the site this year.
Of course, Patagonia isn’t alone in its concern over its impact on the environment. Timberland, in a similar move, unveiled a ranking system last year for its leather walking shoes and clogs that suggests how “eco-friendly” the shoes are. Timberland believes (rightly, I think) that environmentally-conscious shoppers will be 1) more likely to buy shoes they know have been made and delivered mindfully and 2) more loyal to companies that endeavor to be transparent by providing this kind of information for the customers who want it.
To be sure, Timberland is acting for both environmental and economic reasons. But I don’t care if it’s a 50/50 split or 95% driven by economic factors. As long as the company is making a good faith effort to be honest and transparent and mindful about its selection of materials and in its production and delivery practices (and I have no reason to believe they aren’t), why should it matter? I applaud them for doing it and refuse to take the bait to look for the cynicism behind their efforts. Good for Timberland.
Even so, Timberland is not Patagonia, which is in a different ballpark altogether. Anyone who knows the history of Patagonia knows that the company has been walking the green walk from its inception. (The company was using recycled soda bottles for it’s fleece pullovers and organic cotton for its T-shirts, polos, and casual pants long before other mainstream retailers even had those items on their radars.) In fact, this ethos is built into the very, um, fabric of the company. It’s mission statement reads:
Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
That’s pretty strong, and the sentiment was there long before Al Gore even thought of making a movie. And that is why I was so surprised to see others grumbling about Patagonia’s attempts at transparency through the microsite.
- Why are they only showing those five pieces?
- Which ones are they trying to hide?
- They should show the impact for ALL their products.
Some Dark Green environmentalists are never satisfied. Despite the ongoing Greenie Grousing, which is such an unfortunate yet consistent hallmark of the old school environmental movement, I think this is a terrific effort on Patagonia’s part. Moreover, The Footprint Chronicles go a long way toward showing that these supply chain analyses are far more complicated and far more involved than most folks would think. And in fact, the work that went into this tracking has yielded important yet surprising information, such as the relatively small percentage of total energy in the supply chain that is burned during product transportation. Contrary to public perception, the manufacturing process actually accounts for far more energy usage, according to these tracking results.
In a Fast Company interview, Jill Dumain, Patagonia’s director of environmental analysis, told the magazine:
If we had followed environmental chatter and spent all that time shortening our supply chains, it would have had a huge impact on our product quality. To realize that our conservation efforts needed to be focused elsewhere was really freeing.
Given Patagonia’s history, I don’t see how one could view what the company is doing with The Footprint Chronicles as anything other than a best effort attempt to be mindful, transparent, and reflective on their practices. (And could one ask much more of a company?) Plus, they’ve done it in a way that offers a real and significant education opportunity. That’s because the interface with the content is just as good as the content itself.
In fact, if I were to offer one suggestion to the folks in Ventura, CA, it would be to take advantage of the content they have gathered and of the interface they have designed and to develop a version of the site specifically for students and teachers that ties the current interest in the environment, creativity of product design, the complexity of supply chains and the globalization of commerce into topics of classroom study across myriad disciplines, including: geography, economics, math, science, history, foreign language, and art.
What better way to pique student interest and tie classroom instruction to workforce skills than by offering that instruction within the context of the real world in an engaging format that is natural to students? I can’t think of one.
Fortunately for Patagonia, much of the heavy lifting has already been done: the map interface is designed and initial sets of data have been collected. The only thing left is to connect that data and integrate that interface into classroom activities and teacher lesson plans in ways that teachers would like to use them.
As I think about it more, I think the format of the activities should be based on the Community Problem-Solving (CPS) methodology that is proving so successful in American classrooms. By taking this approach, not only would the company be developing a program based on research-supported methodology, the approach would also allow Patagonia to design the program in a real way that supports the company’s mission to use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
The CPS methodology could (and I would submit, should) be set up for this program so that the problem posed to students would be centered around using business practices to address common and significant environmental concerns. Patagonia wins. Teachers win. Students win. And ultimately, the environment wins too. Maybe even the Dark Greenies could manage a smile as well. Anything is possible, right?
Originally published: Apr 1, 2008
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