Patagonia Shares Environmental Expertise In Every Catalog

Patagonia the eclectic label favored by mountaineers, boarders and surfers worldwide is wearing its focus on environmental sustainability on its sleeve. Sorry about the pun…

The Surf Spring 2012 catalog appeared on Saturday. I immediately dug into it. The photos are stunning. For a non-surfer, like me, the images are surreal. I suspect that the images are jaw-dropping awesome for surfers. The product looks good too.

But what I was drawn to was the educational nature of the catalog. Definitely an environmental overtone but not preachy. Rather it came across as authoritative. Impressively so.

In the “Ask Questions” section, the writers bluntly state, “Environmental claims attract customers trying to do the right thing these days. Yet not all “environmentally friendly” products actually cause less harm. (Who knew?…Appartently the gang at Patagonia does!), “For instance bamboo can be cultivated organically and without irrigation, but factories typically recover only half of the toxic solvent used to convert the fibers into fabric.”

I could be accused of being a bit of a textile geek, but I find this enlightenment facinating.

More importantly I am drawn to a brand that (a) stands for something, (b) knows their stuff, and, (c) is on a mission to share its knowledge. Patagonia is just that sort of brand. Patagonia is principled, expert and true to itself.

Wouldn’t the world of retail be better if more brands could make the same claim?

For more on Patagonia’s environmental initiatives, including its wholly uncommon Common Threads program click here