In Patagonia ’s words “sustainability is not enough, yes, we must continue to cause no unnecessary harm, but we must also add something, give back and do good” not a bad statement, and one we should all work towards. Patagonia have a long history of trying to do things differently. In 1986 Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard began to make regular donations to smaller groups working to save or restore natural habitats rather than give the money to NGOs with big staffs, overheads, and corporate connections. He, committed to donate 10% of profits each year to these groups. They later upped the ante to 1% of sales, or 10% of profits, whichever was greater. And have kept to that commitment every year since. They now encourage other corporate companies to do the same and this is something The Sporting lodge is working towards.
Patagonia’s rich history of doing things differently reaches every part of what they do, whilst they do not claim they are there yet, they are a lot further than most, take their fishing collection not only do they think about the materials they use and the functionality these items provide, they also consider the environment at every stage, like the recent collaboration working with Danner, they incorporated their tradition of quality and craftsmanship to create the boots anglers have always wanted—durable, comfortable, repairable and with unrivalled grip with a choice of environmentally friendly sole units that will not contaminate your local river water.
Over the next 12 months you will see even more progressive thinking from our friends at Patagonia, with their planting for the future campaign – A project in which Patagonia will work on sequestering carbon back into the soil, and forms part of a test collection hitting stores over the next 12 months, to use cotton grown on over 150 small-scale farms working towards regenerative organic certification. Because healthy soil traps carbon, this growing movement could help stop climate change.
At the moment Patagonia in a lawsuit with non-other than the President of the United States, Donald Trump over largest elimination of protected land in American history, President Donald’s Trump’s December 4 th proclamation robs the American people of their public lands heritage. The President and a handful of politicians would like you to believe that they are doing what is best by rescinding 85% of Bears Ears National Monument and nearly half of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Nothing could be further from the truth. This action is unprecedented and widely unpopular. It is also illegal, and Patagonia will be will continue to challenge his decision in court. According to Patagonia by eliminating so much of Bear Ears National Monument, the President is putting over a million acres of land at risk for permanent destruction, and they aren’t going to just stand by. Protecting public lands is a core tenet of Patagonia’s mission and vitally important to our industry, and they feel they need to do everything in their power to protect this special place.
Patagonia is a brand going places and with their roots firmly on the ground they continue to pioneer Alpine, outdoor, fishing, running and surf by continually reinventing themselves, shop the whole collection online at The Sporting Lodge.
Browse all our Patagonia Blog Posts:
There’s something in the Air….
Introducing – Patagonia
Patagonia: A Refreshingly Responsible Approach to Apparel