Learning how Patagonia views the world of corporate social responsibility

Source: inafutureage.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/patagonia-aligning-values-and-workforce/

Patagonia, as regular readers of 'Cuttie in your face' may know, is a brand that is relatively new to me. Despite this, Patagonia has quickly become a brand I am increasingly loyal to.

Link to Patagonia home page

Patagonia is headquartered in the city of Ventura in southern California, USA.

USA satellite photo

California satellite photo

Ventura satellite photo

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Patagonia headquarters satellite photo

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Patagonia headquarters street view

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One of the reasons for my loyalty is the extremely high quality of its products, its generous warranty terms and, importantly, the company's very genuine attempts at minimising its impact on the environment. When Patagonia talks about 'its impact', this includes the effects of their actions both up and down the supply chain.

Not so long ago, my kick-arse girlfriend gave me one of their books titled: 'The Responsible Company: What we've Learned from Patagonia's first 40 Years'.

This book has made great bedside reading...

Photo: Willy

This book, while a somewhat heavy read, is written in a unique, refreshing and straight-shooting style. What made an immediate impression on me was the Authors' (one of which is one of the founding owners of Patagonia) humility when talking about Patagonia's environmental initiatives and achievements. They stress that Patagonia, and the rest of the world, is only really at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making real progress towards looking after the planet - a planet that is our collective home.

This book not only gives many disappointing examples of how we as individuals and societies are rapidly destroying planet earth, it also gives many examples of hope - of ways we can all make a difference. The authors accurately state that this process starts with a change in our own personal mentalities and values. As a useful aid, the end of the book has an extensive appendix for individuals and businesses to refer to and use at their discretion - should they wish to be a part of this green revolution.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who cares where and how they spend their consumer dollars - be you as surfer or be you not. I also recommend this book to anybody who is interested in corporate social responsibility - especially from an environmental and humanitarian perspective. If you are somebody, be it the CEO or the floor sweeper, who wants to start positive, environmentally responsible change within your organisation of employment, I encourage you to read this too.

'The Responsible Company: What we've Learned from Patagonia's first 40 Years' can be purchased on Amazon through the link below:

Patagonia's book available here on Amazon.com

I strongly believe we can all make a difference!