A fellow Renegade brought to my attention (thanks Shana) a bold new microsite by Patagonia noting that the “site tracks the journey of a handful of garments from inception to distribution, and measures the relative good and bad of the journey in terms of sustainability.” She added that it is a “good example of a company being transparent about their “green” efforts, for better or for worse.”
I’d encourage you to explore this site. I found an interesting video about how a Patagonia supplier (Unifi) is creating recycled polyester yarn that is ending up in Patagonia’s Synchilla Vest. In the video, a Patagonia spokesperson notes that the company wants to be using 100% recycled yarn in all its products by 2010. That’s an impressive goal. It is also interesting that the Unifi spokesperson noted that they save the equivalent of a 1/2 gallon of gas for each vest Patagonia produces with recycled synthetic yarn. I guess if Patagonia sells a lot of these vests, that’s a lot of saved energy.
The most refreshing part of this is the sheer honesty of the site since having a zero impact product development process is next to impossible. “The Footprint Chronicles” is a pristine example of Marketing for Good, educating their target about their green ambitions but not over-praising themselves for their “goodness.” Finally, it is worth noting that Patagonia encourages visitors to join the conversation on an employee blog called The Cleanest Line.