User:JAVermont/Patagonia, Inc.

Worn Wear Program
One way that Patagonia was able to incorporate sustainability into their business was their “Worn Wear Program.” This program allows customers to send back worn Patagonia garments and receive store credit. Along with this, the program also promotes longer life spans for their clothing by providing sewing videos and/or the help of professionals via events across both the United States and Europe.

Patagonia’s “Worn Wear” program has worked to create a way for clothes to be reused and their lives to be lengthened. This idea coincides with that of the somewhat recent idea of a circular economy, an economy where there is no such thing as waste because everything that is “used up” is refurbished or made into something else. This definition provides a scope into the thought process of how Patagonia Uses their program to get as close to a circular economy as they can manage. This can be achieved through continued reuse of items and improvements to their own practices.

Ethical Mishaps
Throughout the history of Patagonia, they have had a few downfalls when it comes to ingredients being used in products.

One mishap being in 2010 related to the down feathers that were used in many of their products. Four Paws revealed that they had found Patagonia was using down feathers sourced from Hungary, where the birds were being heavily mistreated and bread to be food. Patagonia responded to these claims by saying that it was near impossible to trace exactly where their feathers were coming from, so they created a standard called the Traceable Down Standard to be able to ensure that they weren’t indirectly harming animals.

It was found in 2011 that Patagonia used unnatural water repellants to make their outerwear able to repel water effectively. These repellants have been found to be carcinogenic, however Patagonia continued to use them. Since this was found Patagonia has now changed what they use as water repellants, now finding only trace amounts of the carcinogens.