Patagonia's Passion for the Planet

            When Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia, his vision was to establish a company that creates the best outdoor and recreational gear.  However, shortly after Patagonia had just opened their new Boston store, the employees working there began to complain about getting headaches.  After further investigation, the company discovered that the same air in the store was being recycled, and there was formaldehyde in the air from the cotton clothes.  This is when Patagonia began to question their business practices and changed their company mission statement:

            “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions the environmental crisis.”

This mission has led Patagonia to implement a variety of policies and initiatives to help the environment.  Patagonia turned to making all of their clothes with 100% organic cotton and only using recycled polyester.  This was only the start of these types of programs and initiatives.  Patagonia has been able to make serious changes and impacts, not only because they are a large legitimate corporation, but also because they were able to embrace and understand the Reasonable Person Model.  They have been able to support people’s effective functioning by helping them truly prospect about the future of our planet. I broke down the Reasonable Person Model into it's 3 components and how various policies and initiatives at Patagonia fulfill those...

1.     Model Building

            Patagonia knows that people need to have the opportunity to understand and explore.  Patagonia attempts to convey the message that our planet is facing severe effects because of climate change caused by humans.  They want to help people understand.  Being such a legitimate company, Patagonia has been able to teach employees, customers, and other companies about implementing sustainable practices and cleaning up their supply chain.  For example, Patagonia has paired up with Wal-Mart to teach them how to integrate environmentally friendly solutions in their supply chain.

2.     Being Effective

            In order for their message to really catch people’s attention, Patagonia’s message must be clear and coherent.  They can do this by making a strong statement.  For example, Patagonia makes the promise to donate 1% of all their sales to environmental organizations.  Another example is Black Friday, in which they donated 100% of their sales to environmental groups, bringing in more than $10 million.  By doing this, Patagonia is able to make a strong statement that they value the environment over profits and that they are not going to do "business-as-usual".

3.     Meaningful Action

            I feel Patagonia embraces this part of the Reasonable Person Model the best.  Patagonia provides employees tons of opportunities for them to feel that they are truly apart of something bigger.  For example, employees are allowed to take up to 60 days of paid leave to volunteer at a grassroots organization of their choice.  This opportunity allows employees to feel as if they are truly making a difference.  Patagonia also allows customers to feel like they are making a difference simply by buying their products.  Customers are supporting a company that they feel makes an actual impact and difference.  It is important for people to believe that they are contributing to the planet, because these small steps can lead to larger ones.  Even small efforts can make difference.  However, we know from Jevon's Paradox that as products become more efficient, there is an increased rate of consumption.  Patagonia battles this by keeping their prices higher and developing ads that say "Don't buy this jacket" to help discourage over-consumption.  They even came out with a recycling program for old Patagonia gear.

Patagonia has been able to enhance the prospection skills of their customers to make them more aware and concerned about the future of our planet.  Slowly Patagonia has made an impact by incentivizing the future, or more specifically, demonstrating the wonders of our planet and how we should preserve these for future generations to enjoy.  Even though Patagonia would be considered an expert in their field, they are able to communicate stories on an emotional level that affects most people.  This strategy has worked immensely in their favor, as they continue to be extremely successful and contribute to sustainability efforts.