This blog was partially inspired by an article in Yodel magazine, which listed some examples of socially responsible ski or mountain companies. Of those they listed, Patagonia is probably the best known, and their mission statement is ‘Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.’
Most large organisations now have at least a token CSR section; in Patagonia’s case their environmental commitment is given more priority than their products! The site includes environmental essays on all sorts of subjects and these home-grown and guest pieces are actually much more interesting than the word ‘essay’ implies. There are also more detailed sections on some of their main priorities, here’s a little glimpse into what you’ll find:
The Footprint Chronicles
This initiative “examines Patagonia’s life and habits as a company. The goal is to use transparency about our supply chain to help us reduce our adverse social and environmental impacts – and on an industrial scale.”. The interactive map is really interesting, and its honesty was refreshing. In some cases they admitted that there were practices they were uncomfortable with, (even if they fell within legal guidelines), and detailed steps they’d taken to improve working conditions.
Our Common Waters
This is a two-year campaign to explore issues of water scarcity – how to meet human water needs without threatening the environment now and in the future. Again there’s a lot of honesty here, they use a lot of water to create their products, in fact they’re still figuring out exactly how much, as well as how to reduce it.
Common Threads Initiative
The Common Threads Initiative encourages us all to reduce, reuse, repair, recycle and reimagine; it invites customers to pledge their commitment and explains how Patagonia plan to help at their end. As part of the pledge they actively ask their customers to buy fewer of their products. For me it’s this message that really takes them above and beyond when it comes to CSR. The implication that they’re willing to commit to their values even if it means taking a hit on their profits makes this, and all their other messages, sound truly authentic.
Now, it’s early days for this blog – so perhaps I’m a little naive at this stage – but I’ve been really impressed by Patagonia. As I set off in search of more CSR success stories, the bar has been set pretty high.
CSR Scrapbook 