Author Eric Blehm is a longtime friend and field-report contributor of ours. His latest book, The Last Season, has just been released as a paperback version with a new cover and 16 new pages of text/photos, including an interview with the author, a tribute to mountaineer Patty Ramber, and an essay by Randy Morgenson (the…

A Letter From Bill McKibben Dear Friends— This is an invitation to help start a movement—to take one spring day and use it to reshape the future. Those of us who know that climate change is the greatest threat civilization now faces have science on our side; we have economists and policy specialists, courageous mayors…

Patagonia surf ambassador Mary Osborne just sent word that she’s going to be helping surf legend Robert August and Free Wheelchair Mission distribute 10,000 wheelchairs in Costa Rica. The project will be documented in a series of short videos narrated by Mary, Robert and Robert’s son, Sam August. We’ll try and wrangle a firsthand report…

Doug Tompkins is coming under fire once again in Argentina for his efforts to protect the environment. As most of you know, Doug and his wife, Kris Tomkins (former CEO of Patagonia), are buying large pieces of undeveloped land in Argentina and Chile in hopes of preserving the wild landscapes and ecosystems for future generations…

I was driving along the P.C.H. looking for an empty peak when I happened upon a surfer catching a lumpy right. I pulled over to see if there was anything consistent rolling through when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. A man stepped out of the van parked in front of me, looked around, and tossed his kitchen sized bag of garbage into the rocks. As I processed what I had just witnessed, his compatriot climbed out of the driver’s seat. Dirty rag in hand, the man started walking towards the rocks, while making a series of “any witnesses around” glances over his shoulder.

Can’t say I’ve ever heard of the CRO (Corporate Responsibility Officer), but they have graciously awarded Patagonia a 2006 Business Ethics Award. We won’t bore you with a long acceptance speech, but we’re grateful for the recognition. Thanks CRO! Business Ethics 18th Annual Awards [via Jackson Library Blog]

Can a Sierra Club activist and an oil platform designer be the first to install a wind farm off the coast of the United States? According to a recent article in Wired magazine they just might, and they’re planning to do it by recycling old oil rigs. I just love the mixture of irony and…

From the press release:VENTURA, Calif., March 5 /PRNewswire/ — Patagonia, the outdoor apparel manufacturer, announced today that the company’s Reno Service Center, was recently honored with the GOLD level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). With this esteemed certification, Patagonia’s distribution center becomes only the second…

Editor’s note: Whenever Patagoina ambassador Ron Kauk visits the office I always try to track him down and say hello. I have great respect for Ron even though I’m not much of a climber. His love for Nature is deep and he seems to carry the spirit of Yosemite with him wherever he goes. Here’s…

The self-professed ‘Great Irritant’, Doug Peacock, stopped by the Patagonia campus today. Doug was kind enough to share some of his archival footage of the Grizzly bear (AKA “the Grizz”) filmed in and around the Rocky Mountains during the 70’s. He also read some journal passages from those times, as well as some excerpts from his books. Most importantly though, Doug spoke passionately about his relationship with the Grizzly bears and the tragic consequences that the de-listing of the Yellowstone population from the Endangered Species List will cause.

Patagonia’s environmental commitment extends to its extensive support of the Conservacion Patagonica program. Each year, employees have the opportunity to participate in one of three separate service trips designed to tackle the mountainous work required to transform retired ranches into a stunning new national park. This report comes to us from recent trip participant Andy Mitchell, of Patagonia’s…

Just got word from a tipster in the edit department about an opportunity for Patagoniacs in the Northeast to affect the climate change discussion. Sorry for the late notice on this one. I’m sure you can join up with the walk at any point. Action Now on Global Warming: Join Bill McKibben on the Interfaith…

Back in ’01-’02, well before Oceans as Wilderness, our environmental focus was on genetic engineering. While there were some victories associated with that campaign, the issue has not gone away. The following action alert came from one of our environmental grantees in California. Hopefully, more states will follow suit. Support New Legislation Protecting Communities and…

For those who don’t know about the Ojai Raptor Center, run by long-time Patagonia employee Kim Stroud, you should check it out in person or online at www.ojairaptorcenter.org I recently visited the center behind Kim’s home and was amazed at the work she’s doing for orphaned and injured birds of prey.When I first heard mention…

Bend, Oregon – The American Alpine Club presented its prestigious David R. Brower Award for conservation to Yvon Chouinard this Saturday, March 31.  A quote from the American Alpine Club’s announcement: The Brower Award, created in 1991, recognizes leadership and commitmentto preserving mountain regions worldwide. The awardee, whose activepersonal role deserves public recognition, has made…

Check out this recent article in the LA Times – Ethanol Market, USDA Policies Shrink Conservation Reserve by Tim Reiterman – about how the government’s plan to boost corn production to meet rising ethanol demands could adversely affect our conservation areas.It’s a great article because it shows how switching to less environmentally harmful practices on…

Following up on his recent talk at Patagonia HQ, Doug Peacock just sent us the following letter on behalf of Yellowstone Grizzlies. Make sure and click the "Continue reading" link for details on how you can help. Your support is greatly encouraged and appreciated. Dear Friends: On March 29, 2007, the Department of the Interior…

Ever since Bend to Baja took the Interwebs by storm in late 2005, we’ve received a pretty steady flow of inquiries from friends and customers about how they can convert their own diesel rigs to run on straight vegetable oil. A recent article from the Santa Barbara Independent serves as a nice primer for anyone…

Thank you for all you do on behalf of our beautiful home. Smell the flowers, hug a tree, thank a bee and enjoy this special Earth Day episode of the Risky Biscuit Hayseed Hoot. Listen to "Songs and tunes for the Earth, about the Earth and forearthlings" [Photo: Apollo 17 Crew & NASA. With thanks…

The following report is brought to us by Ken Larussa, from our Reno Distribution Center, home of Patagonia’s Customer Service.  If you’re a long-time customer, chances are good you’ve spoken to Ken at least once.  After hearing about Ken’s trip and seeing his pictures, we’re lucky he came back. Wool. We all know it comes…

There are few pristine places left in the ocean, and our understanding of what is natural has shifted dramatically over time. But in the Line Islands there is an atoll where the corals are healthy and sharks are king. Last month, in support of our Oceans as Wilderness campaign, marine ecologist Dr. Enric Sala visited…

If you live in the Reno area or happen to be there on May 17, please join Rick Ridgeway for this special event at the Patagonia Service Center. Those not in the area can read about Rick’s journey in his book The Big Open: On Foot Across Tibet’s Chang Tang. THE BIG OPEN On Foot…

Several years ago I ran across the howies site. I felt they had a similar vibe, a focus on the environment and sports but with a stronger focus on cycling than we did, so I got hooked. I wrote to see if I could place an overseas order and a nice guy named Ade helped…

There was a somewhat quiet challenge issued deep in the comments of the "Support Human Power" post about who could saddle up more of their crew for Bike to Work Week: our Ventura HQ or the Reno Distribution Center.  Not that it’s a contest or anything . . . BUT, well, we are feeling a…

What to do when you want to participate in Bike to Work Week but your commute’s a beefy one? Follow Team Bacon Strip.  If the ride’s a long one, these guys aren’t afraid to start the night before. If you’re in the Reno area and want to punctuate your Bike to Work Week in fine…

An impressive-enough commute by car, 2 states and 3 counties are exactly what some of the folks who work in our Reno Distribution Center pedaled through to get to work Thursday morning.  Undaunted by distance and mountain passes, Nate Hanson (Pro Sales), Tim Kipp (Customer Service), Anne Cahill (Account Manager), Rob Flesher (Call Center Mgr.)…

The results are in from the retail store Bike-to-Work challenge. Nick from Patagonia Seattle — the store that instigated the friendly competition — gives us the lowdown: The final numbers are in and we have the results for the Retail Cycling Challenge. First, I would like to say thank you to all the stores that…

If you’re interested in businesses-gone-green, take a look at "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet" by Cornelia Dean. (Note: This is a NY Times article and will only be viewable by non-subscribers for approximately one week.) It’s great to hear more success stories of reformed businessmen and their environmental experiments. Let’s hope interest among…

This post comes from Patagoniac Kristin Jaeger, a PhD graduate student at Colorado State University who’s studying fluvial geomorphology. Kristin originally submitted this as an environmental essay for our catalog, but since it didn’t fit our current theme of Oceans as Wilderness we’re gladly presenting it here. If you have a story about invasive species…

We now turn our attention from the eradication of invasive species to the reintroduction of native species. Kris Tompkins, head of Conservacion Patagonica, sends word of a celebration on behalf of the giant anteater. Dear Family and Friends, After over two years of acquiring permissions from numerous national governmental agencies and four provinces, months spent…

I just received word this morning from my friends up at the Buffalo Field Campaign in West Yellowstone. Montana’s Department of Livestock is planning on trapping and slaughtering 300 wild buffalo – including calves as young as a few weeks, and their mothers. The agency plans to begin the roundup on Thursday, May 31. It’s…

Just last week, Montana’s Department of Livestock had plans to round up 300 wild buffalo (including babies) and ship them off this morning, June 4, to slaughter, because they’d wandered outside the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. Thanks to the efforts of the Buffalo Field Campaign, their supporters and all of the media that picked…

Plastic bags make me cringe. They’re given away excessively at grocery stores and markets with barely a thought as to how they’ll be disposed or where they might end up. One gallon of milk? Two plastic bags. Greeting card? Plastic bag. Fresh produce? One plastic bag for each variety please. Plastic, plastic, everywhere. And none…

They say it takes about 30 days to form a new habit. It’s been about 30 days since we got rollingwith our Bike to Work Week festivities, so it’s time to check in: How y’all doing with that new habit of rolling through the sunny summer mornings on your way to the daily grind?  Having…

Doug and Kris Tompkins were interviewed and Parque Pumalin toured last night on ABC’s Nightline. You can read a nice written recap of the story, with plenty of choice quotes from Doug and Kris, at the ABC News website. There’s also a streaming video about Parque Pumalin as a vacation destination. Millionaires With a Mission…

On May 11, Patagonia Ventura employees were treated to an hour-long presentation from Hunter Lovins. Hunter is the president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions and co- creator of the Natural Capitalism concept – a whole-system framework that promotes the economic advantages of sustainability. She was also noted by Time magazine as a "Hero for…

Last week, word came out from our friends at the Buffalo Field Campaign in West Yellowstone, Montana, that the state Dept. of Livestock decided not to round up and exterminate 300 wild buffalo (including calves less than a month old). Well, their compassion appears to have been short lived. We received word from the BFC…

"Wilderness," by both popular and political definition, is a large physical space devoid of the artifacts of human interference—no occupied permanent structures, no motors, no roads. To be something eligible for protection under the law, Wilderness must be a concrete thing, something that can be measured and documented. But in the wide-open stretches of Eastern…

[Lupines give definition to the "blue" in Blue Mass Canyon, Kern Mountains. White Pine County, NV. Photo: David Smoyer. Map: Proposed boundary for Blue Mass Wilderness. Survey work  compared on-the-ground realities with this mapped proposal. Remote Nevada dirt roads are often little more than twin shadowy lines of heavily rutted singletrack. Hiking some of these…

sweep of velvet green meadow ringed with aspens, leaves manicured to an even height by the elk, deer, and few free-range cattle that move through these mountains each season. I’ll be leaving the car here, and setting out by bike as soon as I can organize my gear… [Morning blues in the Kerns. Photos: localcrew]…

Navigation of the washout is far from easy, the only reasonablechoice is to completely unload the bike and ferry it and my gear downthe embankment, across the stream, and up the steep and sandy oppositebank. The entire process takes 40 minutes.  I cover 30 yards. Theroad on the far side of the creek steepens sharply…

We’ll get your weekend started with a post from Patagoniac and Sociology professor from Kalamazoo College, Dr. Mark A. Ritchie. Dr. Ritchie lives in Thailand and runs a study abroad program for American college students that focuses on the study of ecology and culture, specifically with activist communities in Thailand — groups fighting the damming…

Oil extraction and global warming are today’s hot environmental topics, and for good reason. But if you’re into looking ahead at the next big environmental fight look no further than life’s most basic resource: water. Thankfully there are already some grassroots environmental groups working hard to keep water rights in the hands of the people.…

There was a great interview on Democracy Now the other day with science journalist Chris Mooney, who has a new book called Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics and the Battle Over Global Warming. He looks at how the administration of George W. Bush has meddled with government scientists working on hurricane forecasting, global warming and other…

Brett Millar from Great Pacific Iron Works, sends us this report about some honored guests who visited recently: Great Pacific Iron Works, the original headquarters for the retail division of Patagonia in Ventura, California had an extremely unusual visitor this past week. Save Our Wild Salmon and their “Extinction Stops Here” road show stopped by…

by Lynn Hill I've been reading and hearing a lot of talk recently about the ominous phenomenon of bees dying all over the world. Most of what I've read on the subject points to pesticides as a possible reason why the bees are dying. Apparently, many farmers are spraying pesticides on their crops at the…

After speaking with my friends, Mike Lechlinski and Mari Gingery about their experiences in Yosemite and climbing on El Capitan this summer, I learned that many climbers are not doing their part in keeping the big walls clean. Apparently many people “accidentally” or even intentionally drop their garbage and poop off El Capitan and don’t…

In the same way we can’t drill our way to oil independence nor can we buy our way to a sustainable future. So was the gist of recent New York Times article on Sunday July 1st. Appropriately placed in the Sunday Styles section of the Times, the article (subscription required) goes on to point out…

Adrienne, one of my co-workers on the Web team, just sent this wonderful report from Japan where she’s halfway through a two-month long environmental internship with Umigame-kan Organization (translated) on Yakushima Island. On July 26, 2007 I saw my first baby sea turtle emerge from its nest. One minute there was nothing and in the next…

As an expert navigator of a craft that’s designed to run strictly on wind power, Patagoniac and US Sailing Team member Andrew Campbell brings us an interesting perspective on the environmental impact of organized competition. Andrew has been a member of the US Sailing Team since 2001 and is currently training and racing his Olympic-class…

I made a big mistake. It involves garlic. Buying organic is good, right? I tend to think so, especially when my guilt-free organic garlic is now only $0.25 more expensive than its non-certified shelf-mates over at the local eco-chic shop n’ strut. I’m a sucker for getting my values at a bargain, so I took…

The time has come for Patagonia to shift its environmental activism focus from Oceans as Wilderness to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The goal of our new campaign is to help secure permanent protection for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge through designation as Wilderness. To commemorate the Oceans as Wilderness campaign, we enjoyed…

This just in from some of the folks in our Reno Distribution Center. These people like to ride, which is why they pitch in every year to make sure one of their favorite trails stays in good shape. On Tuesday August 8/7, eight Patagonia employees from Reno worked on the multi-use Hole-in-the-Ground trail near Donner…

Back in June, Charlotte, Annette and Alyssa from the Creative Services department volunteered on Patagonia time for Growing Solutions, a great non-profit doing native plant work on the Channel Islands just off the coast of Ventura. Charlotte sent us this story about their day away from the office. Karen Flagg wrapped her hand around a…

While some Patagonia employee internships take place in remote locations around the world, others happen closer to home in front of a computer screen. It all depends on the skills each of us possess and how best we can help the group we choose to volunteer for. Drew from Patagonia’s I.T. department here in Ventura…

Some members of our European offices in Annecy, France recently participated in a volunteer program aimed at reintroduction of the previously extinct Bearded Vulture to the Alps. Their hands-on contributions to these efforts got them up close and personal with these amazing birds. Birds and colleagues alike enjoyed a spectacular day in a remarkably beautiful…

Farming is an issue of great concern for us. We staked our business on switching to organic cotton in 1996 and we ran a series of environmental essays on the dangers and uncertainties of genetic engineering in 2001-2002. Unfortunately, GE crops are still being grown and organic farming remains a quaint alternative. Fortunately, there are…

I love to cook and as I’ve ventured into new cuisines found myself with a whole new spice rack sporting names like fenugreek, nigella and star anise. I also found myself wanting a spice grinder to go with all these wonderful recipes but couldn’t bring myself to spend the money. My coffee grinder worked just…

Not too long ago we told you about this year's Dirtbag Grant winners, the second recipients of the award. But who were the first? Today we're happy to share the story of the first Dirtbag Grantees, Vermont residents Brian Mohr and Emily Johnson, and their trip to "Endangered Patagonia." Here's a recap from Brian and…

This was submitted by Todd Tanner, the author of the field report "Balance" that appears in our Fall 2007 Catalog. Here’s our problem. We walk around the edges. We bar the gates. We bulldog those inconvenient – yeah, that is the word, isn’t it; inconvenient – truths to the ground and brand them Trouble With…

In the spirit of our Common Threads Garment Recycling program, Sterling Rope Company is launching a climbing rope recycling program in partnership with Rock/Creek Outfitters, ClimbingGear.com, and the Triple Crown Bouldering Series. Old ropes will be sent to a recycling facility where they’ll be melted into nylon pellets and remade into common household items. Read…

In the last six months, I’ve been to two sushi bars on the east and west coasts, one in Brooklyn, New York, on Smith Street, and one in Santa Barbara, on State Street (you know who you are) that have bluefin tuna on the menu. Here is what Blue Ocean Institute, a highly respected organization,…

The outdoor bowl in beautiful Ojai, CA was the perfect setting on October 7 for Jackson Browne, The Household Gods, and many other friends to pledge their musical support for the Ojai Raptor Center. The sun shone, volunteers worked the crowd with a raptor on their arm, and the music flowed over the packed house.…

You may have already taken a peek at our Footprint Chronicles. We launched it a couple of weeks ago and put an announcement up here on TCL. The Footprint Chronicles is a window of sorts. We’re hoping that through it, our customers can see how we’re analyzing our environmental and social impacts and what we’re…

We recently received a request to post a list of Y.C.’s favorite books on The Cleanest Line. We’ll do our best to make that happen, but in the meantime there is one book Patagonia has been recommending since the launch of our Common Threads Garment Recycling program. The book is Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a…

[Ed note:  This is the first of a three-part post from former Patagonia employee Matt Hunt. Matt was kind enough to share the details of his conversion of a Toyota Land Cruiser using Patagonia’s alternative transportation incentive plan. Read on for an inside look at one man’s eco-fueled automotive quest.] The Parking-Lot Culture Working for…

0ur Footprint Chronicles were intended to ignite conversation every bit as much as corporate introspection. And the comments are starting to roll in. Below, you’ll find some intriguing thoughts from among the very first responses we received to the Footprint Chronicles. In the interest of helping to zero-in our own focus on big issues, we’ve…

0ur Footprint Chronicles were intended to ignite conversation every bit as much as corporate introspection. And the comments are starting to roll in. Below, you’ll find some intriguing thoughts from among the very first responses we received to the Footprint Chronicles. In the interest of helping to zero-in our own focus on big issues, we’ve…

Back in January, Patagonia paid me to go to Chile for two weeks to volunteer with ForestEthics, a North American-based environmental group working to preserve and protect native forest. My name is Jim Little. I’m an editor here at Patagonia, and one of 21 employees last year who took advantage of one of the coolest…

0ur Footprint Chronicles were intended to ignite conversation every bit as much as corporate introspection. And the comments are starting to roll in. Below, you’ll find some intriguing thoughts from among the very first responses we received to the Footprint Chronicles. In the interest of helping to zero-in our own focus on big issues, we’ve…

In case you’ve been missing it, Democrat-sponsored Clean Energy legislation is up for a vote soon. Late Thursday night, word came down that Congressional leaders are considering dropping the mandates for clean energy alternatives. It’s a matter of days before the votes are cast, so time is running out to let your Senators and Representatives…

Rare to see YC holding a fish out of water for even a second but this 26 pound Zolotaya River chromer required closer inspection. This Russian beauty had been caught on the nearby Rynda two summers ago and blue-tagged to identify it as a product of Rynda waters — proof of salmo salar’s wandering capabilities,…

If you receive Patagonia email alerts – or as I like to call them "e-nugs" (sign-up today, you won’t regret it) – your Inbox is more than likely housing our latest email encouraging action on behalf of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Back in September, the Alaska Wilderness League’s Executive Director, Cindy Shogan, and writer/photographer,…

Patagonia catalog subscribers should be seeing the Holiday 2007 issue in their mailboxes now. Entitled "Conservacion Patagonica," the catalog showcases both gift ideas from our winter clothing line and the story surrounding the creation of Patagonia National Park in Chile. Founded by former Patagonia, Inc. CEO, Kristine Tompkins, Conservacion Patagonica is a non-profit organization dedicated…

After my Long Trail thru-hike, I made a commitment to get involved with the GreenMountain Club (a non-profit organization that works to protect and maintain trails in Vermont) and give back to the Long Trail. Fulfilling this promise, I become a “summit steward” and “ridge runner” in the fall of 2003. One of my assignments…

For those who haven’t been paying attention to the ongoing climatetalks on the island of Bali, Indonesia, representatives from the US,Japan and a few other countries have been dragging theirfeet again in negotiations on a sucessor to the Kyoto Protocol when itexpires in 2012. Right now they’re refusing to sign an agreement calling forindustrialized nations…

Happy New Year everybody … it’s good to be back. Our Tuesday hangovers are a distant memory and the first weekend of 2008 is shaping up nicely with a significant snow forecast in the Sierra. On the Patagonia front, we’re excited to announce our new environmental initiative, Freedom to Roam. The goal of Freedom to…

Back before the holiday got into full swing, we told you about an onlineauction for One Percent for the Planet (1% FTP). The original story is posted here. We’re pleased to offer this update on the results. Some true gems were available in their first-ever online auction, including a Jack-Johnson-signed guitar (below) beautiful artwork (like…

This in from Greg Helms at Ocean Conservancy:"On Dec 6th, California officials announces that the mainland coast of southern California – from Pt. Conception offshore Lompoc to the Mexican boarder – is next in the statewide process of establishing coastal marine protected areas (MPAs) under the California Marine Life Protection Act. Much like the historic…

We ran a post a little while back featuring a video clip of one of our U.S. representatives ripping apart the then-pending energy bill (Keeping Alternative Transp. on the Radar). His comments took aim at the line of the bill that sought to set aside $1 million annually to support bicycle transportation through construction of…

Every time I exit the 101 south onto the Pacific Coast Highway north of Ventura, I think about the surf spot Stanley’s and how it was destroyed in order to build the freeway offramp. I never got the chance to surf Stanley’s. It was paved over before my time. Thankfully, groups like the Surfrider Foundation…

The New York Times has been running a series of detailed articles about the changing demands being placed on public lands throughout the American West. No matter how far you are from these wide-open spaces, if you pay taxes, this land truly is YOUR land. Active participation in the issues surrounding the use of these…

Sara Benjamin is the Project Director for “Once Upon a Wetland” – a watershed education and wetland restoration project of Oak Grove School in Ojai, California. In partnership with the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, Meiners Oaks Elementary School and Nordoff High School, the project engages students and the community in restoring the Ojai Meadows Preserve…

At Patagonia, we use Martin Luther King Day as a time to give back to our community – this year was no different. In addition to sending crews of employees to work on local projects with the Ojai Raptor Center and the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, we also welcomed a remarkable young woman as our…

Last November I was lucky enough to get a spot—the last spot—on Clif Bar’s cycling team. It’s awesome to be among a squad of strong riders and have sponsorship from a company with social interests compatible to Patagonia’s. Plus, Clif makes the yummiest energy food around! Last weekend we went to our team training camp…

The all-things green blog TreeHugger recently conducted a two-part phone interview with Patagonia owner/founder Yvon Chouinard. Topics include growing the company, Patgonia 100 years from now, transparency and the Footprint Chronicles, the myth of sustainability, our "Pata-gucci" reputation, politics, and quality vs. quantity. As usual, Y.C. doesn’t pull any punches. Head on over to TreeHugger…

After a very successful inaugural launch last year Patagonia got involved again with the University of California Santa Barbara READS program. UCSB students and Patagonia employees were given The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli to learn more about globalization. Patagonia was asked to get even further involved and have…

More exciting than Red Dawn, and cooler than camping with Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, and Patrick Swayze, our friends at the University of California's Sagehen Research Field Station have just reported some pretty outstanding news. Imagine you're protecting a piece of land. Imagine people are studying the plants and animals on that land. They're…

Access to biodiesel for consumers in the Ventura area is best described as dismal. Few options exist other than driving to Santa Barbara or Los Angeles to get biodiesel at the pump. Otherwise, you must rely on having drums of fuel delivered to your residence, which is costly and only possible if you have an…

Happy Earth Day everyone! For us there’s no better way to blog on this day than by highlighting a group of passionate activists making a difference in their neck of the woods, or in this case, their stretch of the river. A while back, Patagonia employee Charlotte Overby spent her enviro internship with Missouri River…

Because the best down comes from mature geese and because the Eastern Europeans prefer older and larger geese, the best down tends to come from Eastern Europe. The down is harvested and then separated into different grades depending on the quality of down. Hit the jump for more details . . . Down is graded…

Feedback" links available within The Footprint Chronicles. If you’ve yet to see it, The Footprint Chronicles is one example of our commitment to Leading an Examined Life. It’s an interactive mini-site that allows you to track the impact of several Patagonia products from design through delivery.* We launched The Footprint Chronicles with five products from…

It's with a heavy heart that we discovered something about ourselves this morning. The realization was a simple one: we're a bunch of lawbreaking crooks. Activist supporters? Sure. Guilty as charged. But criminals? We have no doubt supported a number of activists whose direct-action approach has landed them in jail (think Buffalo Field Campaign ). And…

Recently there has been a lot of talk in the surf world about “green” wetsuits (1, 2, 3, 4). Most of the claims revolve around the use of neoprene made from limestone rather than petroleum. I asked Todd Copeland, who works on Patagonia’s Fabric Development team, to shed some light on these claims. Many of…

This post was submitted by Patagonia grantee Monty Bassett from the Sage Foundation. January 17th, 2005, in a remote village in the middle of a vast British Columbia wilderness, Roy Quock, an 84-year-old elder of the Tahltan tribe, discovered that his band chief had been touring the world, at the invitation of the World Bank…

Rick Ridgeway tipped us to the following article from the Earth Policy Institute. It’s part of their Eco-Economy Indicators research — twelve trends that the Institute tracks to measure progress towards building an eco-economy. Bicycles Pedaling Into the Spotlight J. Matthew Roney The world produced an estimated 130 million bicycles in 2007—more than twice the…

Bike to Work Week seems like the perfect time to have another look at how some people feel about the spirit of Bike to Work Week. This video was posted here earlier, under “Keeping Alternative Transportation on the Radar.” This was back in the good-ol’ days when oil was hovering around $100 a barrel. Regardless…

Earlier in the week we mentioned that the Westport store was leading the 2nd Annual Patagonia Retail Bike to Work Challenge. Nate Paulson, manager of Patagonia Westport, sent along this update: Patagonia Westport is attacking Bike to Work Week like the last hill on a mountain leg of the Tour de France. Yesterday, 9 staff…

Mid-way through the work week and the participant numbers keep climbing. While Free’s rear-hub casualty has taken some of the spark out of our Pat HQ vs. Distribution Center rivalry, the Retail Bike Challenge remains hotly contested. While you find the store’s individual rider numbers below, consult the graph for a sense of the real…

We all play in our local environments, but how many of us take the time to help care for them? Patagonia surf ambassador Crystal Thornburg shares this story about how she and some of the crew from Patagonia Hale’iwa have been volunteering to help restore a portion of the Waimea Valley. [Hale’iwa store manager Paul…

One of the common challenges for grassroots environmental groups around the globe is raising awareness about their issue(s). Patagonia grantee, Sea Turtle Restoration Project, and its partners, have come up with very clever and entertaining way of raising awareness for critically endangered leatherback sea turtles: The Great Turtle Race. Now in its second year, Great…

As the Great Turtle Race winds down (the winner has already crossed the finish line), Todd Steiner,Executive Director of Sea Turtle Restoration Project andTurtle Island Restoration Network, sends this story as a follow-up to the post we ran last week: [White-tip sharks hug the reef. All photos courtesy of Todd Steiner.] In November 2007, I…

I love this video of YC. It shows him in his element — fly fishing and rock climbing at a secret spot in Argentina — and contains words of wisdom like, “[Fly fishing] is not about catching fish, it’s all about adapting yourself to where you’re worthy of catching a fish … it’s about the…

We made a short video to illustrate the importance of voting for the environment. Please help spread the word by embedding it into your blog or Web site. [Video: Emilie Lee. Music: September Sessions Band, "What Would You Rather Do" © 2008 Vote the Environment] Don’t forget to celebrate International Surfing Day today — get…

Vote the Environment is on the road with Jack Johnson and his All at Once Tour. Two Patagonia employees have been chosen to man the booth and talk to concert goers about the importance of registering to vote, getting informed and voting the environment on November 4th. [Folks can share which environmental issues are important…

Our Footprint Chronicles have generated a wide range of feedback. We’ve received a whole raft of incisive questions that have sent us scurrying off to do more homework. We’ve received some praise, most recently in the form of the "People’s Voice" award in the 2008 Webbys. And we’ve received some criticism. We’re grateful for all…

Our friend Meghan Sural is the Assistant Manager of our outlet store here in Reno, NV. She’s also a devoted wilderness steward. Though her roots lie in Appalachian soil, her heart roams free on the open deserts of Nevada’s vast wild (and unprotected) places. She kindly shares some soulful words with us here about her…

Two Patagonia employees from our Upper West Side store, Eric Taber and Emily Triantaphyllis, are involved in the creation of a new independent film called What’s Organic About Organic? The film — a character-based mosaic that delves into the debates that arise when a grassroots agricultural movement evolves into a booming international market — has…

Time and time again we see that when we reduce environmental harm, we end up producing better-performing, higher-quality Patagonia garments. And sales of those improved garments often enhance our business health and profitability. Our environmental initiatives are constraining by nature, but benefit us by sparking innovation during all stages of development.These constraints force us to…

Micah Wolf is a singer songwriter from Maui. Together with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and photographer Ben Moon, they made this music video for Micah’s new song “One By One” to raise awareness about the harmful effects of plastics in our environment. To learn more about Micah and his upcoming release Beyond The Shores,…

Back in May, I had the honor of attending Patagonia’s Tools for Grassroots Activists Conference. One of the attendees, Sera Harold from the Marine Fish Conservation Network, sent along the following action alert. It’s relevant to our recent Oceans as Wilderness campaign, and serves as a good reminder that our work to protect the world’s…

Anthony Garcia from Patagonia Ventura’s I.T. department, shares this story about an e-waste collection day he coordinated back in July: Think back to the day you walked into the office and those nice folks from the I.T. department had visited your desk during the night. What do you see in front of you but a…

I hinted at a treat for you last week and now it’s live. Today Patagonia launched the Tin Shed, a multimedia mini-site (à la the Footprint Chronicles) that’s loaded with dispatches from our friends and ambassadors traveling the wilder world — in high-quality video, audio and the written word. Head over to the Tin Shed…

The fight to dam Patagonia is escalating. As the namesake of our company, the South American region of Patagonia continues to be a powerful inspiration for our business and for us personally. It truly is one of the world’s last unspoiled natural treasures—wild, vast and rich in its unique attributes and biodiversity. In honor of…

In early July of 2008 we announced the release of our factory list, available from the Leading the Examined Life portion of our site. As the post states, this was a big step for us. The Footprint Chronicles is our opportunity to maintain a higher level of transparency in our corporate practice. They were launched…

Professional photographer and Cleanest Line reader, Scott Dickerson, contacted us recently about a unique aerial shoot he did with the US Coast Guard, University of Alaska, US Geological Survey and the World Wildlife Fund. It involved documenting a report of nine polar bears seen swimming amongst melting Arctic ice. He wrote about the shoot on his blog and…

We’ve talked before about the Surfrider Foundation’s efforts to stop a proposed toll road that would wipe out Trestles,a world-famous surf break, and destroy 60% of the acreage at San OnofreState Beach, the fifth most visited state park in California. In February, the California Coastal Commission voted to deny the 241 Foothill South Toll Road.…

Patagonia has long taken an interest in the genetic integrity of our food supply. A 2002 essay by company founder/owner, Yvon Chouinard focuses on the question asked by many of our customers: What Does a Clothing Company Know About Genetic Engineering? Six years have passed, and genetically-modified foods are, if anything, a bit closer to…

Patagonia Ventura employees welcomed a very special guest yesterday afternoon. Dr. George Schaller, one of the world’s preeminent field biologists, was recently awarded the Indianapolis Prize for his relentless pursuit to save endangered species across the globe since 1952. His visit to Patagonia was the first stop on a multi-city speaking tour in conjunction with…

Our friends at 1% For The Planet have a new promotional video. Please consider embedding it in your blog or on your Web site to help spread the word. This piece uses member photographs, music by member-artist Matt Costa and was played on the jumbotron at all Jack Johnson shows throughout the summer.    If…

This is a last friendly reminder to register to vote if you haven’t yet, and please encourage all of your friends and family to do the same. Deadlines for registration vary from state to state; some have passed but many haven’t. You can find a full list of voter registration deadlines at HeadCount. Interesting fact:…

Jonah. That’s the title. Simple, direct. About as austere as the landscape it refers to. Jonah is a book, and an unlikely one at that.It’s part cowboy, part environmentalist, part roughneck, and part naturalist.It’s part photo-journalism and part poetry. It’s naked fact and nuanced understanding. And it’s the self-published product of a young woman who,…

The Vote the Environment campaign is much more than a collection of ads and web pages asking you to think green this election year. We’re doing everything we can to get out the vote, and to arm voters with the tools they need to make the environment a top issue. Toward this end, Patagonia sent a couple…

We close out this week with a word from our desert neighbors in Utah. Like the rest of us living in the arid reaches of the American West, resource issues are almost always at the front of our minds, and none is more critical than water. As Marc Reisner argues in his seminal work on…

Some sage words of caution from one of our Environmental Program Coordinators here at Patagonia. Please remember to Vote the Environment tomorrow, but don’t let your enthusiasm be the reason anyone stops you from casting your ballot. The original message follows: A last-minute election heads-up – Many of us have received news alerts or emails…

Here’s a story to keep you smiling as we all await the results of today’s historic election. On Monday, September 15, Patagonia Ventura employees were greeted by a very unique school bus in the parking lot. Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow, the two-man team known as the White House Organic Farm Project, or WHO…

As part ofPatagonia’s Vote the Environment campaign, we asked Deb Callahan,former President of the League of Conservation Voters and an old friendof Patagonia, to write a brief “letter to President-elect Obama,” withher thoughts on what his priorities should be on behalf of theenvironment. We also include, after Deb’s letter, a note from us atPatagonia, with…

Glacial retreat is becoming an increasingly common–and unsettling–fact of mountain life in the 21st Century. Many were made more familiar with the topic through the dramatic photos of Glacier National Park displayed in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. News from California this week reveals the problem is present in our Sierra backyard as well. Gretchen…

Last summer, Patagonia Dillon store employee Bucky Ballou drove from her home in Montana to Yosemite National Park, where she helped operate a bird-banding station with The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP). It was her second field season volunteering through Patagonia’s environmental internship program, which pays employees’ their full wages and benefits for up to…

Patagonia is proud to announce that as of October, 2008, we have become a fully accredited member of the Fair Labor Association.  While Patagonia was a founding member and active participating company in the Fair Labor Association since 1999, it was not until last month that we received the distinction of full accreditation. To achieve…

A new citizen is emerging. That citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. The Footprint Chronicles were developed to document the changes we’re making as a company to lighten our…

A new citizen is emerging. That citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. The Footprint Chronicles were developed to document the changes we’re making as a company to lighten our…

Nicole Bassett is Patagonia’s Social Responsibility Manager. As such, she is charged with traveling the world to visit our factories and verify the integrity of their manufacturing process. Thanks to her unique expertise, she gets peppered with questions from people eager to spend their dollars in the most beneficial way possible. In today’s post, Nicole…

A new citizen is emerging. That citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. The Footprint Chronicles were developed to document the changes we’re making as a company to lighten our…

Series intro: A new citizen is emerging. That citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. The Footprint Chronicles were developed to document the changes we’re making as a company to…

Idealists are frequently told that “hope” is not a strategy. Perhaps not, but it breeds inspiration, and inspiration is nothing if not the mother of the marvelous. And hope and inspiration together . . . Why, don’t they create the foundation upon which all great strategies are formed? On December 19th, Tim DeChristopher confessed in…

Patagonia employees are encouraged to reduce their environmental impact with tips from a group of co-workers who call themselves the Green Team. For 2009, the Team shared a list of nine green resolutions anyone can keep. They’re good reminders and very easy to share with friends and relatives who might need some encouragement. Nine Green…

Today’s post is from Walter Allen, a project business manager at Patagonia (and a new father). Last summer, Walter volunteered for two months with the nonprofit environmental organization, Armenia Tree Project, in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. What follows is an account of his internship, sponsored by the Patagonia Environmental Internship Program, which gives employees…

 Lovers of wilderness take note: some long-fought land legislation has just been kicked into high gear. Senate Bill 22, aka. the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, has been taking shape over the past few years. While stymied repeatedly by vigorous filibuster, a recent re-shuffling of the Congressional deck seems to have cleared the legislative log…

We've all been roped into last minute trips by friends. Sometimes it's to the mountains, sometimes the ocean, sometimes to a concert or festival. Earlier this week, Christian Beckwith, former managing editor of the sadly defunct Alpinist Magazine, was coerced into just such a trip. Only this time, the destination was an impoverished area in…

While we wait in anticipation for tomorrow's inauguration ceremony, let's travel back in time for a moment to the evening of November 4, 2008. The place: Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois. The event: Election Day. The author: Andrew Graves from Patagonia Chicago. [Well-orchestrated office lights. Photo: Andrew Graves] The crisp, cool, autumn evening air was matched…

Series intro: A new citizen is emerging. That citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. The [Ed note: This installment comes from a local Ventura canoe paddler; someone whose time…

Here in Nevada, we're getting ready to go on a diet. It's a common New Year's resolution, so perhaps that's what Governor Jim Gibbons was thinking when he announced the state's dramatically trimmed budget this January. For the first time in 35 years, the governor has proposed a budget that is smaller than the preceding…

Today's post comes to us courtesy of Patagonia penman and seasoned wildlife crusader, Jim Little. Take it away, Jim . . . Lisa Myers used to stand at the photocopy machine forhours, making copies–lots and lots of copies. A colleague would watch hershuffling papers, methodically pushing the button over and over, and ask herhow many…

New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, and New York. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland, California. And now the City of Santa Barbara. These cities and states share a desire to ban single-use plastic bags. Famous for its beauty, the stunning seaside city is considering a ban on plastic bags for what is now a well-known list…

Friends, the time is now to make your voice heard in support of Wilderness. Our previous post focused on the new administration's efforts to pass a landmark piece of legislation. While the Act easily cleared the Senate, a final hurdle remains in the form of tomorrow's House of Representatives vote. Ron Hunter, chief enviro word-spreader…

Several years ago, Patagonia email marketing coordinator Steve Wages saw this photograph of two anglers with a big catch of steelhead trout from the Ventura River. The shot was taken in the 1920s. Those were the glory days, when each year upwards of 5,000 steelies would leave the Pacific Ocean to swim up the rain-swollen…

Today’s post is from Dealer Service Representative Lindsey Jensen, who is on a two-month hiatus from her desk at our Reno Distribution Center for an environmental internship in Los Pargos, Costa Rica, with Sea Turtles Forever. The group works on behalf of five endangered marine turtle species, including the Eastern Pacific Green and Black, Hawksbill,…

As part of our Freedom to Roam campaign, we’re interested in Corridors that Work, wildways that help animals migrate or travel between protected areas. Recently, we heard about a series of underpasses built on Highway 30 in western Wyoming. This part of Wyoming is home to about 100,000 mule deer. Of these, 95% are considered…

With everyone from Oprah to Vanity Fair advocating that we "go green," it looks like green has become the new black. And often, the Green Gurus say that sustainability is quick, easy, and profitable. If that were true, wouldn't it have happened already? Recently, we got a note from an old friend, Auden Schendler, who…

Today’s post is from Ryan Applegate, assistant manager of our Dillon, Montana, store. Last summer Ryan took two months off work to pedal his bike 2,300 miles from Yukon’s Watson Lake to Yellowstone National Park. But Ryan’s trip was more than a summer bike tour. Working with the Freedom to Roam Coalition, he and six…

Patagonia’s own Rick Ridgeway will be addressing the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands on “The Role of Federal Lands in Combating Climate Change,”  2 pm EST on Tuesday, March 3. Rick will be speaking on behalf of Patagonia and as a founder of Freedom to Roam, a coalition of businesses, conservation…

I recently received an email about the proposal by Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility that powers most of Northern California, to amend the renewable energy bill now making its way through California's state legislature. I was surprised to hear it could further accelerate the development of hydropower in the province of British Columbia in…

In Fall 2005, when we launched our new line of recyclable Capilene® Performance Base Layer garments, we also announced a five-year goal to make all Patagonia products recyclable through our new Common Threads Garment Recycling Program. This program invites customers to return used-up clothing and delivers the retired garments to a fiber manufacturer that uses…

A new citizen is emerging. That citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. Although it can sometimes bog decisions down, we recently saw the benefits when Patagonia Sourcing Manager Marjorie…

The first time I heard Edward Abbey's name, I was sitting in a literature seminar. A restlessness had been brewing in the class, but no one could put a finger on it. All this inspirational literature had stirred something in us–we wondered why our suddenly precious time was being spent talking about 'theme' and 'technique'…

Series intro: Today's citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. [Ed note: Everyone concerned with the state of the environment has their coming-of -consciousness story. Psychologist Elizabeth Mosco has worked…

Series intro: Today's citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. Two. Hundred. Thousand. Miles. If you’re an astronaut,that translates to a one-way ticket to the moon or about 8 trips…

Today’s post is from Sarah Sweeny, a project coordinator in the creative services department at Patagonia headquarters in Ventura. In January and February, Sarah volunteered for two months with the nonprofit environmental organization, Moreton Bay Coastcare in Brisbane, Australia. What follows is an account of her internship, sponsored by the Patagonia Environmental Internship Program, which…

Our good friend Josh Berry, Environmental Director for Save The Waves Coalition, sent word today from Chile for The Cleanest Line masses. Aloha Kasey! Two news items you might consider publishing on The Cleanest Line: Keeping Coast, a new short film by Save The Waves, that documents the new Coastkeeper program we've opened in Chile…

Patagonia employee Sherry Chow joined Global Exchange last year for an eye-opening trip to Ecuador. Her trip report follows and begs this question: if the president of a struggling South American country has the courage to seek out alternatives to the lucrative promises of the oil industry, what's stopping stronger nations from assisting or following…

A recent cluster of automobile accidents along Montana’s Hwy 191 has rekindled concerns about state and federal management policies for our country’s wild buffalo. In just one weekend in early April, 15 bison were struck and killed by vehicles traveling along a short 10-mile stretch of Montana’s Hwy 191. Concerned citizens, including members of the…

Happy Earth Day to the Cleanest Line masses. Today we launched a new version of the Footprint Chronicles, the place where we share information on how and where our products are manufactured, what the environmental costs are and how we think the process can be improved. There are a number of new features in today's…

Series intro: Today's citizen is engaged, concerned, and most of all, confident; confident in his or her choice as a consumer, confident in his or her power as an employee, confident that change is possible. The Footprint Chronicles were developed to document the changes we’re making as a company to lighten our environmental impact and…

Series intro: The “My Footprint” series shares the stories of Patagonia friends and employees who have been inspired by There's a side to skiing in the United States that many American skiers would just as soon not talk about. For all of its inspiring outdoor elements, the industry as we know it is uniquely dependent…

Today's post comes to us from Patagonia E-mail Maestro, Steve Wages. Steve's the kind of cyclist who celebrates Bike to Work Week every week of the year, finding a way to stay true to the saddle despite obligations as a professional, a husband, and a dad. His story gives us a little peek into the…

Last week's Bike-to-Work celebrations kept our dedicated team of coordinators hopping – volunteers made sure events were supplied and staffed, area business folks presented informational clinics on everything from bike tuning to trip planning and route-finding, and supporting businesses offered prizes designed to spread the word and keep the stoke alive. Employees rallied, too, with…

We’ve recently released “What’s Done in Our Name?,” the first in a three-part video series called Work in Progress that examines larger social and environmental issues we grapple with as a company. ”What’s Done in Our Name” directly addresses what we do to monitor the labor practices of the overseas factories that make our goods.…

There’s no question one of the highlights of our Reno location is its proximity to Lake Tahoe. The highest alpine lake of its size in the States, it’s also one of the clearest, with an average underwater visibility of about 70 feet. This stunning clarity muddies in comparison to the 120 feet it boasted when…

A plot of dirt can be a great place to start a revolution. While the mission of the Green Corn Project (GCP) might not be revolutionary, their work is. You see, GCP–a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Austin, Texas–believes freedom is possible when you empower people with knowledge and skill to create an immediate benefit in…

On May 21, in a 33-25 vote, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR 2454). The bill is designed to create millions of new clean-energy jobs, save consumers hundreds of billions of dollars in energy costs, enhance America’s energy independence and cut global-warming pollution. Here at Patagonia,…

Kim Stroud, who manages our sample room here at Patagonia HQ in Ventura, came walking in the other morning with one of those cardboard boxes used to carry live things. In her “spare” time, Kim is executive director of the nonprofit Ojai Raptor Center, so she’s always nurturing some kind of critter, not just raptors.…

The presidential election last fall gave many environmentalists new hope, but the Obama administration has since outraged many gray wolf advocates by upholding a Bush-era decision to take them off the endangered species list in over half a dozen states. After being nearly wiped out in most of the country, recovery efforts in the last…

Last week, in regards to the recent delisting of gray wolves as an endangered species and in conjunction with our Freedom to Roam campaign, we brought you Part 1 of an interview between NRDC’s Senior Wildlife Advocate Louisa Willcox and Montana rancher Becky Weed — two individuals with two distinct points of view and a…

Friends, summer is here and once again we're grateful to have local watering holes for families and animals to enjoy. The Ventura River behind Patagonia HQ provides a few of these aquatic sanctuaries, but we must remember they're not hosts to humans alone. In 1997, southern steelhead were granted protection under the federal Endangered Species…

On Friday, we asked Ventura residents to Be a Steelhead Advocate, Report Illegal Fishing in the Ventura River. As a follow-up to that post we’re pleased to share this 2007 video from the Matilija Coalition. It’s pretty long but the stories within paint a vivid picture of what the river was like before factors like…

We got a waterless urinal a couple of months ago here on the second floor of the Crystal Palace at Patagonia HQ. It’s saving a lot of water, but smells a bit unsavory. One guy likened the odor to that of restrooms in bus terminals. Another said it was a Third-World experience without the cultural…

Our friends over at Recycled Waders have been hard at work finding new uses for some of Patagonia's most hard-to-recycle items. Fishing waders are complex pieces of gear – neoprene feet, water-proof fabrics treated with water-repellent finishes, stretchy shoulder straps, metal snaps and zippers, each of these items adds a layer of complexity to a…

In June, we offered up some information about the Waxman-Markey Climate Change Bill – aka. the American Clean Energy and Security Act, HR 2454. As we stated in that original post, our hope was to make our readers aware of the valuable protections the bill included for wildlife corridors. Our on-going environmental campaign, Freedom to…

[Trailer courtesy of The Cove and Take Part] Early reviews from folks around the company are in: go see The Cove. The movie – winner of the Sundance Film Festival's 2009 Audience Award for U.S. Documentary – is playing now in select theaters across the country and coming soon to others. Check your local listings…

The National Parks Conservation Association has releaseda 54-page report titled "Climate Change and National Park Wildlife: Asurvival guide for a warming world." The report stresses the importance of creating wildlifecorridors within and between parks, as "climate change will cause somewildlife to move outside the parks' protected boundaries, while other speciesmay move in. Because national parks,…

Series intro: The “My Footprint” series shares the stories of Patagonia friends and employees who have been inspired by The Footprint Chronicles, and whose inspiring lives help fuel the vision of what we can do as a company. Their stories are offered here, glimpses of individual footprints spotted along the path toward positive change. We…

Labor Day is upon us. For many, this weekend is the time to launch a last-ditch attempt to get out into a nice, quiet piece of the great-big open. Whether camping, hiking, climbing, paddling, fishing, or simply savouring summer's final reprieve from the daily urbanized bustle, Labor Day has become, more than any other holiday…

Patagonia formally announced on September 4th that it would terminate all co-branding and co-marketing efforts with SIGG, Inc. It has come to Patagonia’s attention from recent news reports that a Bisphenol A (BPA) epoxy coating was used in most aluminum SIGG bottles manufactured prior to August 2008, despite earlier assurances from SIGG that the liners…

We’ve just updated the Footprint Chronicles, our interactive mini-site we use to share information about how andwhere our products are manufactured, what the environmental costs areand how we think the process can be improved. There are a number of new features in today's Footprint update but the highlight is the release of the second in…

Today's post is from Lisa Myers, of Patagonia's Environmental Team. As one of the folks responsible for finding ways to support non-profit environmental groups, work with like-minded businesses, and educate others on our environmental initiatives, she works hard to stay informed. In an effort to better understand the work being done on climate-change issues, Lisa…

Our Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are our front line of communication with Patagonia fanatics far and wide. The crew here at our Call Center in Reno, NV are at it seven days a week, taking orders, helping with returns, and most importantly, answering the astonishing range of questions our customers fire at us. Like flocks…

Our Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are our front line of communication with Patagonia fanatics far and wide. The crew here at our Call Center in Reno, NV are at it seven days a week, taking orders, helping with returns, and most importantly, answering the astonishing range of questions our customers fire at us. Like flocks…

Every other year, Patagonia hosts what it calls a “Tools for Grassroots Activists Conference.” The conference originates in Patagonia’s desire to do more than write checks to environmental organizations. It’s something between a tribal gathering and a business seminar. The ways in which activists confront and publicize issues, convince the public of their importance and…

Once again it's time to revisit a past environmental campaign, Oceans as Wilderness, and I wish it was under more positive circumstances. Patagonia grantee the Environmental Defense Center is starting to spread word about another problem the world's oceans are facing due to humanity's carbon-producing ways: ocean acidification. Read on to learn more about this…

Today's post is from the staff of our Outlet Store in Dillon, Montana, who were among the first to take part in a developing program called Witness for Wildlife, a new initiative from Patagonia and the Freedom to Roam Coalition designed to bring together the experiences of everyday Americans who are documenting wildlife activity and…

Up the road from Patagonia HQ, the fight to ban septic tanks at Rincon is making good progress. A similar shift is now being proposed for Rincon's southerly sister, Surfrider Beach in Malibu. The Malibu Surfing Association is one of many groups working on this issue and they're asking for your help. Take action: Help…

Freedom to Roam is Patagonia’s current environmental campaign. Its goal is to create, restore and protect corridors between habitats so animals can survive. Freedom to Roam wants to preserve and protect big wildways (or corridors) for large animals. But we also want to help all of us better understand what a corridor is, and what…

Today we repurpose an easy to digest, numbers-based summary of Patagonia’s environmental work in fiscal year 2009. First published in July in our Environmental Initiatives booklet, we’ve updated it slightly and present it Harper’s Index style. Perfect grist for a blog post, we think you’ll find it chewy but not filling. By the Numbers Quantifying…

The Backyard Corridors series continues with a new question about the animals roaming in your neck of the woods. Last week you told us about all the animals that live in your area. Now we’re curious about the ones that are currently out and about. Which wild animals did you see in your area this…

Patagonia employees are given a lot of latitude: flexible work schedules, hall passes for surf and snow, no one looking over shoulders making sure we’re working. In essence we’re treated like the big kids we are and trusted to get our work done. We’re also invited to help determine which groups receive money through the…

As a founding member of Organic Exchange (OE), a nonprofit dedicated to expanding the production and use of organically grown fibers, Patagonia recently attended their annual conference and board meeting in Seattle. At the meeting, OE members – which include companies like Nike, GAP, Nordstrom, REI, Walmart and Target – decided to broaden their traditional…

Thanks to everyone who's shared their Backyard Corridors stories with us so far. We're going big with this week's question. What is the largest, wild land animal living in your area? Please share your answer, and any stories you may have about that animal, in the comments on our blog, The Cleanest Line, or on…

Today's post comes to us from Hans Cole, Patagonia's Environmental Grants Manager. Hans' job is all about supporting grassroots environmental groups through grant money and training, and helping to plan and run Patagonia's environmental campaigns. He facilitates the Grants Council that decides which environmental organizations will be recipients of many of Patagonia's annual environmental donations.…

Patagonia owners Yvon and Malinda Chouinard joined Friends of the Teton River this summer on a trip down a wild stretch of the Idaho waterway. Their trip commemorated a float the Chouinards had taken down the same stretch of river 35 years ago, before construction of the notorious Teton Dam. Unfortunately, the trip was not…

I like to start the day in my backyard hot tub, sipping on a cup of strong coffee and soothing sore muscles. It’s a great way to ease in. There’s also an added benefit. Spending a half hour outside each morning, sitting quietly in one place, provides an opportunity to observe the ever-changing rhythms of…

It's easy to think the life of a sponsored athlete is one full of jet-set luxury and hedonistic indulgence. But we try to do things a little differently here, and our athletes are no exception. There's a reason we call them "ambassadors," after all. Yes, we look to them for insights on how to improve…

When we talk about Freedom to Roam it's impossible to make an argument for wildlife corridors without mentioning the obstacles that block an animal's ability to go where it has to go in order to survive. The obstructions we often cite include housing sprawl, energy and resource extraction, population growth, expanding urban areas, and highways…

You met them first on the Obama Express. Now, Santa Barbara Independent reporter Ethan Stewart and freelance photographer Kodiak Greenwood are in Copenhagen to cover the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change. This morning the boys — who’ve dubbed themselves “Operation Copenhagen” — awoke to violence in the street and tear gas in the…

Today's post comes from Yoko Okuya, of Patagonia Japan's Marketing Department. Together with four of her colleagues from a variety of locations throughout Japan, Yoko and her team are taking an innovative approach to Patagonia's Environmental Internship Program by participating in a series of habitat surveys stretching from June 2009 through March of 2010. Their…

Employees at our Dillon outlet store gained some “Freedom to Roam” last summer when Patagonia funded an environmental internship for store staff. Outlet employees chose to work with American Wildlands (AWL), a Bozeman-based non-profit that works in Montana to identify and prioritize wildlife corridors. Donning leather boots and gloves, they headed to the Centennial Valley,…

It’s rare when industry competitors get together to collaborate. It’s even more unusual when they get together to discuss ways they can lessen their environmental impact. Yet that’s what happened as a result of our relationship with bluesign® technologies, an independent third party that screens the dyeing and finishing of textiles. We recently met with…

Before all the memories from Copenhagen fade from our collective consciousness, Santa Barbara Independent reporter Ethan Stewart and freelance photographer Kodiak Greenwood remind us of one very positive presentation they witnessed at the conference. Last month, the whole world was watching Copenhagen as the United Nation’s held their much hyped Framework Convention on Climate Change.…

Freedom to Roam wants to preserve and protect big wildways for large animals. The "preserve" part of that statement reminds us that wildlife corridors exist already and that leads into our question this week: Does your area have any wildlife corridors? We'd love to hear from you on our blog, The Cleanest Line, or on…

While humans debate the degree, extent and (still) the mere existence of climate change, scores of species are left to deal with its realities. We don’t all live at the seething edge of a major wildlife migration route, but many of us have observed subtle changes in the behaviors of the animals that live (or…

Today’s post is by Patagonia Fly Fishing Ambassador, Topher Browne, who has dedicated his energies to the protection of salmon for two decades. Says Topher, “A species that requires not one but two entirely separate ecosystems would seem a dubious proposition. The transition from fresh water to salt water and back again . . .…

Like a majestic pack of finger-clicking primates roaming the wilds of the Internet, our migration through the Backyard Corridors series is almost complete. Thank you one and all for sharing your thoughts with us and helping to paint a better picture of local-scale corridor issues. This week's question: Which animals in your area might need…

A while back, one of the local news outlets ran a story: “Dad Jumps Between Mountain Lion, Son.” The story was picked up by CNN and went national in just under 24 hours. In that story we were introduced to a man who had recently moved his family to northwestern Nevada and purchased a home…

The second year of the American Alpine Club’s Los Glaciares National Park Trail Restoration project, sponsored by Patagonia Inc., wrapped up successfully in early December. Over six weeks in the Patagonian spring, the ten-man Argentinean-American team, led by project coordinator Rolando Garibotti, with help from many volunteers, continued work begun in 2008 to restore heavily…

We discussed the elimination of Nevada’s state-supported Organics Program just over one year ago. At the time, the state was facing severe budget shortfalls and the budgetary scythe cut a wide swath. The situation has gotten worse, and despite a successful defense in early 2009, the program is once again facing elimination. Organic consumers take…

Growing Solutions is a 501c (3) non-profit organization located in Santa Barbara County. They are dedicated to the restoration and preservation of California’s remarkable botanic wealth and rich diversity. We've supported their work through donations and were pleased to welcome them at this year's Tools for Grassroots Activists Conference. They've accomplished a great deal since…

Please read the following update and urgent plea for assistance from our friends at Save The Waves Coalition. Note: "All donations to Save The Waves for Chile earthquake relief will go directly to humanitarian aid in the most devastated region. No bureaucratic filters, no delays, just pure support for the coastal communities that are in…

“Chilean Patagonia is a remote region of the world where nature–long left to its own devices–grows wild, beautiful and largely untouched by man. As South America's last frontier, the region boasts incredible biodiversity, breathtaking landscapes, essential ecological values, and a remote solitude that is increasingly rare.” The above is taken from the blog-in-progress for a group…

As Rios Libres sets off to help keep Chile's rivers wild and free from dams, Save The Waves Coalition is working hard to bring much needed relief to the residents of Chile who were hardest hit by the recent earthquake. Here's the latest word from Save The Waves on their relief efforts. Donations are still…

  We've just received some fresh correspondence from the Rios Libres team with their latest progress. Their first post (featured on TCL Monday, March 8) got the journey started. Today's post shares a first taste of the wild, vibrant waters of the Río Baker, where it meets the Neff. Stay tuned for next week's update…

["Yvon Chouinard Q&A on Matilija Dam – American Express Member's Project" via YouTube. Video: Robert Richardson and Scott Hicks] Today we're following up on Yvon Chouinard's recent commercial for the American Express Members Project. The grad student Yvon mentions in the above video was Mark Capelli who, through his group Friends of the Ventura River,…

Georgia River Network is a long-time recipient of Patagonia's Environmental Grant support that has been working for years to ensure the health of their watersheds. Over the years, they've increased the number of people involved in the protection and management of Georgia's waters by improving awareness of the issues that threaten the state's waters, setting…

Team Rios Libres is back with an update from the Neff Glacier, at the headwaters of the Río Baker. The team’s first two reports can be found here (1, 2). With the Neff at their backs, the team followed the river to the sea, doing their best to document the diversity, beauty, and wildness of…

When Save The Waves Coalition reacted to the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Chile, their first priority was bringing clean drinking water to the more remote areas of the country. That phase is now complete but the larger work is far from over. Read on for an update and a new batch of photos from the…

We’re sliding open the doors to the Shed and sweeping it clean this spring. Tune into the season with a fresh batch of stories from our friends and ambassadors out in the wild – in videos, audio and written word. And don’t worry, just like our favorite winter sweaters, we’ve found a place to stash…

Team Rios Libres has completed their journey through Patagonia, studying the potential impacts of 5 proposed damns on two of the region's wildest and most healthy rivers. Two of the dams are proposed for the Rio Baker – Chile’s longest and highest-volume wild river. The remaining three dams would be built along the Rio Pascua,…

Patagonia has created a site for you to explore Witness for Wildlife trips. Last summer, we partnered with some great conservation groups who traveled into several wildlife corridors. Read about the threat of bark beetle kill in the mountains of Colorado and about bighorn sheep in the Nevada desert. Let these trips inspire you! And…

On a chilly Friday afternoon I took the short walk from Patagonia’s campus to the parking lot for the Ventura River, where employees of Patagonia, Deckers and Horny Toad had gathered for our first Backyard Collective clean up. This stewardship event had been created by ConservationNEXT, part of The Conservation Alliance, in partnership with Santa…

Doug Chadwick is a writer of natural history based in Whitefish, Montana. His work has taken him all over the world to research books and articles about whales, grizzlies, ants and elephants. Six years ago, wanting to spend more time in the field – and less at the keyboard – he began working closer to…

Between southern Idaho’s I-84 and the portion of I-15 transecting Nevada’s southern tip stretches a vast, empty land – over 500 miles of mountains, sagebrush, and wild bunchgrass. The area is home to some of the lower 48’s loneliest corners; even today, it's crossed by only two major east-west routes. It has remained a region…

  When I was kid in the early 80s, collecting stickers was a big deal. This was well before roof-top sport boxes, so we used sticker books. Among the favorites in my modest collection was a bright and glittering one that shared coveted centerfold real estate with all of the scratch-n-sniffs. It was huge and…

Our Freedom to Roam campaign casts a wide net. It has to. The quest to preserve large tracts of habitat for migratory species creates the opportunity for some unexpected conversations and unlikely collaborations. Nevada Wilderness Project's (NWP) current effort to document – in collaboration with record-holding thru hiker, Adam Bradley – the proposed route of…

[Video: “Rios Libres Video Blog 2 with Timmy O’Neill – Rio Baker Portage” by Rio Libres] When last we heard from team Rios Libres, Craig Childs summed up their journey to Patagonia in a beautiful post called “The Places In Between.” Now that the team is home, work has begun on a film highlighting their…

On the heels of our latest (and final) update from the Rios Libres team, we have this information from our friends at the International League of Conservation Photographers who are working hard to fight dams on the Rio Baker in Chile. Understanding the importance of images in environmental debates, the League of Conservation Photographers use…

It wouldn't have been so bad if the dog didn't try to chew the photographer's face off. But that was just the start of it, and besides, how could he have known? All he knew is that there he was, huddled alone in the middle of a Nowhere most folks can't even imagine; a nowhere…

Two small grassroots organizations that Patagonia supports have hit the news recently for their work on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank after a fire on April 22. Afterwards, John Amos, a geologist and founder of SkyTruth, went to work. Using the skill he once used as an exploration…

Stanley's was a surf break in Ventura County that was destroyed in the 1970s to make way for a highway. Listen to Yvon Chouinard describe what Stanley's used to be like and check out some great archival footage of this spot, courtesy of The Living Curl. This video and other stories like it can be…

A bolt of lightning seeking a path from cloud to ground will trace a path of least resistance. Sometimes that path will lead a jagged bolt through a lone tree, at others, through the limbs of an unfortunate individual caught out in the storm. In our attempts to harness the power of electricity we have…

Our earlier post about the need to protect wild salmon in the federal salmon plan – signed May 20th – focused on urging the Obama administration to stand up for salmon and the Endangered Species Act. In an unfortunate decision, Obama took his cue from an illegal administration plan carried over from the Bush administration.…

Writing about Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles for the blog Greenovate, Michael Hurwitz states, “While many companies are, of course, implementing transparency initiatives, Patagonia’s project is more or less unprecedented, because of the size of the company as well as the fact that it originated from customer demand.” After over three years of steady work on our…

We’ve received some phone calls and emails from concerned readers regarding a photograph Patagonia published in our Summer catalog, page 50. The photo by Morgan Hoesterey (shown here) is of Sanja du Plessis freediving off Oahu. Near her, are several spinner dolphins. The people who wrote and called were worried that the photograph might encourage…

Editor’s note: For Fathers’ Day 2010, we asked readers to Tell Us About Your Rad Dad. We received lots of great photos and short stories about dads who have done all kinds of cool things with their kids. George Gess’s story caught us by surprise. The third in our series of submissions (the first two…

Witness for Wildlife is a new program where folks like you can become citizen naturalists and help make the mission of Freedom to Roam a reality. Who knows? You might just score a rare photo like Michael Quigley did on his Witness for Wildlife trip. [The ocelot recently photographed in Cochise County, Arizona. Photo: ©2009…

[Update 4/18/11 via Save the Waves & Surfer's Path: The fight continues to save Doolin Point and Crab Island. Despite the recent approval by the Clare County Council to build a pier that threatens the world-class waves of Crab Island and Doolin Point, the project now must acquire a foreshore license by the Department of…

As I type this, having just returned from a two-week photography trip to the Arctic, my fingertips tingle, possibly from the lingering cold, or possibly from the trepidation that the tragedy of the Gulf oil spill will someday repeat itself. Though President Obama has temporarily halted plans to allow drilling for oil in America's Arctic…

Working to protect and restore the natural world can be a dynamic endeavor. To capture the energy that goes into this work, we bring you an enhanced electronic version of our Patagonia Environmental Initiatives 2010 booklet. View a fireside chat with Patagonia founder and environmentalist-in-chief Yvon Chouinard, accompany world-renowned photographer Florian Schulz as he sheds…

Editor's note: Between the floods in Pakistan, the Gulf oil spill and the anniversary of Katrina it's easy to forget about the 8.8 earthquake and tsunami that brutalized Chile in February. Our Friends at Save the Waves Coalition haven't forgotten and continue their relief efforts in the hard to reach coastal areas of the country.…

6170 miles. This is the distance between Flagstaff, Arizona and Puerto Bertrand, Chile – the town closest to the source of the Rio Baker. This creates a formidable gap (the equivalent of driving from Boston to San Diego and back) between where many of us live and the rivers we are fighting to protect. Why…

The election season has begun (at least according to the media) and here at Patagonia, we’ve revived our Vote the Environment campaign. We especially want to hear from you about what wild environmental issues are roaming through your backyard, neighborhood, or town. Let us know why people in your neck of the woods should “register to…

For the past nine weeks I’ve been taking a course in fiction writing. As part of the class, we write short stories and critique each other’s finished works.  The other night we critiqued a classmate’s story about a woman who worked for a corporation that took extreme measures – from forcing employees to sign far-reaching…

When the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank in the Gulf of Mexico on April 22, 2010, it led to what is today the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. The international oil company, BP, is held largely responsible, and by the company’s own worst-case estimates, as many as 4.2 million gallons of oil a…

When I got on the plane for New Orleans, the only thing I was sure of was that we would be working as outreach crews, administering surveys around Plaquemines Parish. I’d never done anything like this before and the feeling was indescribable as I walked down a long, exposed driveway to the door of a…

This summer, Patagonia teamed up with non-profit environmental and social justice group, Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), to assist with a project massive in scale and ambition: to track the full impact of the greatest ecological disaster in American history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of Spring 2010. The impacts of this disaster extend well beyond…

This summer, Patagonia teamed up with non-profit environmental and social justice group, Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), to assist with a project massive in scale and ambition: to track the full impact of the greatest ecological disaster in American history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of Spring 2010. The impacts of this disaster extend well beyond…

This summer, Patagonia teamed up with non-profit environmental and social justice group, Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), to assist with a project massive in scale and ambition: to track the full impact of the greatest ecological disaster in American history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of Spring 2010. The impacts of this disaster extend well beyond…

This summer, Patagonia teamed up with non-profit environmental and social justice group, Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), to assist with a project massive in scale and ambition: to track the full impact of the greatest ecological disaster in American history, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of Spring 2010. The impacts of this disaster extend well beyond…

FCD has partnered with Save The Waves to produce a benefit T-shirt for the Chilean Relief Fund. Five dollars from every tee will go to Save The Waves to help rebuild areas affected by the earthquake. Made of 100% certified organic cotton, this T is recyclable through Patagonia’s Common Threads Recycling Program. T-shirts are available…

As the election season kicks into high gear, we're urging friends, family, colleagues, and community not to miss their chance to cast their vote. The issues we face are much bigger than political parties or individual candidates, that's why we encourage everyone to get informed and Vote the Environment. – Ed. Eighteen bucks. What does…

We first learned about the work of the International League of Conservation Photographers through their compelling work on behalf of threatened regions in Patagonia. This summer, they've been lending their honed expertise and incomparable imagery to the fight for some of Western Canada's most treasured landscapes. We're pleased to share this story, from National Geographic…

Utah is a state of superlatives. Geographically, its borders enclose one of the most scenically spectacular, iconically “western,” ecologically unique, and archaeologically rich landscapes in the United States. Politically, the persuasions of the majority of its citizens make it the reddest state in the Union. The land and politics of Utah stoke fervent passions amongst…

From our boss, a note about voting. [Yvon Chouinard. Photo: Bill Klyn] My friend Tom Brokaw recently wrote an op-ed about an issue gone missing in this election — the war, the two wars, we’ve been involved in for the past decade, that so far have taken 5,000 American lives and a trillion dollars out…

Patagonia’s environmental internship program is sending about 20 employees into the field this year to volunteer with nonprofit environmental groups around the world. The company pays employee salaries and benefits for up to a month while they work in D.C., Kenya, Kauai and other locales. Jim Little, an editor in our marketing department, recently spent…

No one likes to be audited – even those who spend their lives auditing other people. Our Social and Environmental Responsibility Director Cara Chacon was reminded of that fact when she was suddenly informed last June that the Fair Labor Association (FLA) would be paying Patagonia a visit the following week. Cara found out about…

It had been over five years since I was in Baja, experiencing its vast coastlines, colorful culture and fine tequila as part of the “Bend To Baja” crew; and what a great way to reunite with Baja than a perfect, sunny swell-filled weekend with the Save The Waves Coalition, a global nonprofit organization whose mission…

We got this note from Doug Chadwick, writer, National Geographic contributor, and all-around friend to "hyper-nasty, victim-shredding gluttons," i.e. wolverines. Thought you might like this update on his travels and findings. If you enjoy the update, be sure to catch the Nature special on PBS – Wolverine: Chasing the Phantom and read his Patagonia-published book, The…

Patagonia catalog subscribers have no doubt thumbed through our 2010 Holiday Favorites catalog by now. Alongside all of the sweet gear are profiles of a few of the many environmental activists who attended our 11th Tools for Grassroots Activists Conference. Today's blog post comes from one of those featured activists, Chris Darimont. Chris is a…

Patagonia surf ambassador Mary Osborne recently completed a month-long sailing trip to study plastic pollution in the South Atlantic with a team from the non-profit 5 Gyres Institute. Together with their partners, Pangaea Explorations and Algalita Marine Research Foundation, 5 Gyres’ mission is to conduct research and communicate about the global impact of plastic pollution…

Patagonia has been working with Wolverine World Wide (WWW) for four years to build a successful line of hiking boots, lifestyle and multi-sport shoes, sandals and more. We rely heavily on WWW’s experience making footwear – an extremely complicated process – but stay involved in every step of the process. That’s why members of Patagonia’s…

We at Patagonia mourn the passing of our friend and colleague, Julia “Judy” Bonds, the Goldman Prize winner and Executive Director of Coal River Mountain Watch. Bonds, 58, had battled advanced stage cancer over the past several months and passed away last Monday. We got to know Judy, back in the early 2000s, first by…

Patagonia’s environmental internship program is sending about 20 employees into the field this year to volunteer with nonprofit environmental groups around the world. The company pays employee salaries and benefits for up to a month while they work in D.C., Kenya, Kauai and other locales. Ari Zolonz, an employee in our Portland, Oregon store, spent…

Taking the plunge (albeit it a shallow one) into the Ventura River in the spirit of Our Common Waters, Patagonia’s new environmental campaign, Patagonia editor Jim Little and a couple of friends spent the afternoon snorkeling for endangered southern steelhead trout. Along the way they sneak up on a few fish and discuss why the…

Flipping through travel planners and vacation ads, southeast Idaho sounds much like the glorious west of old. A wild untarnished space, home to elk, moose, deer, and many other species of wildlife, with hundreds of miles of rivers and creeks, all bursting with wild native trout. It is. Or at least was. Editor’s note: Photographer,…

Building an environmentally conscious hiking boot that’s also a top performer is no easy task. Design and construction are complex; so is the supply chain. As Backpacker magazine put it: “Boots are the most complex gear in our kit, with numerous components – fabrics, leathers, soles, shanks, glues, padding, laces, hardware – plus myriad sewing…

Patagonia's new Here’s how it works: From February 18- April 4, the Department of Interior is inviting comments on Secretary of the Interior Salazar's proposal to halt the opening or development of any new uranium mines in the area surrounding the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River corridor in Arizona; the administration is considering a variety…

There always something unpleasant in the news. Worse, this queue of sad stories is never-ending; the high notes don't last long before they're pushed off the front page to make way for the latest updates about unfolding unrest of some kind or another. That makes news like the kind we're sharing today that much sweeter.…

Patagonia Fly Fishing Ambassador, Dylan Tomine, brings us today’s post – an update on the current state of the seafood industry as seen from a seat at the 9th Annual Seafood Summit in Vancouver. He attended this year’s Seafood Summit, along with Yvon Chouinard, who provided the gathering’s keynote address. Here are Dylan’s observations from…

Last year, six groups of Patagonia employees ventured out to explore, document, and help protect various wildlife corridors in the U.S. Among those groups were Dave Campbell and Andrew Marshall, who travelled north in hopes of spotting caribou along the corridor located in the lush region of southeast British Columbia. These citizen-naturalists were participants in…

As a former director with the International League of Conservation Photographers, Trevor Frost has been keeping a close eye on the world's imperiled places for years. Cleanest Line readers might recognize some of the stories Trevor has helped bring us, such as the Rios Libres series (dedicated to protecting Chile's free-flowing rivers) and, more recently,…

This story was first published in April 2011. We’re proud of the down clothing we make. The quality (fill-power or insulation value) of the down is excellent and appropriate to end use, as are the shell fabrics. The designs are beautiful; down clothing of all kinds has become an important part of our business. Their…

When I set out on this trip, I thought there would still be places where I could see what the Earth looked like prior to human impact. Sadly, I think I was wrong. Every place I have sailed has borne painful evidence of humanity’s maltreatment of the Earth. The coral is dying, fish populations are…

Patagonia hadn't budgeted for the  disaster of last year's Gulf oil spill (The Deepwater Horizon well blew up on April 20, 2010), but circumstances there were dire, so our CEO tapped Patagonia vice presidents to look for discretionary money. The VPs came up with $300,000 above and beyond our budgeted environmental giving. Two-thirds of it…

[Video: Grand Canyon Uranium Mining PSA from James Q Martin Media.] Patagonia's new Our Common Waters campaign speaks out on threats to freshwater across the U.S., including those affecting the Colorado River. We posted on uranium mining near the mighty Colorado in February, urging citizens to stop uranium mining from areas surrounding the Grand Canyon…

The Patagonian region of southern Chile is considered one of the world's last, great wildernesses, dubbed an "eco-gem" for its rare fauna, ice-sculptured fjords and almost total absence of industrial development. Less destructive alternative energy sources are abundant, and the Chilean government may not fully appreciate the significant tourism revenue opportunities that could be gained…

[One of America's longest rivers, the Susquehanna provides fresh drinking water to millions of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic residents. It faces increasing contamination threats as a result of unregulated use of highly toxic fracking chemicals used to extract natural gas from within the river's watershed. Photo: Don Williams] This year, Patagonia’s environmental campaign, Our Common Waters,…

During such dire times as we are in now, I would like to pass on this story I wrote in 2008. It is an outtake from the book 180° South. It has never been published. During the making of the film I spent a few months down in Chile hanging out with fishermen and gauchos…

It was ten years ago when we first pedaled over an obscure pass alongside South America's second largest lake and caught our first glimpse of Chilean Patagonia's wild and wonderful Rio Baker (Baker River) watershed. Never before had we encountered such a vast and ecologically diverse corner of the planet – and our physical and…

We’re bringing our partnership with 1% for the Planet to the local level. During Advocate Weeks, the Patagonia Footwear team donates $10 for every pair of Patagonia shoes sold to a local non-profit group whose mission includes environmental advocacy, conservation or education. Today marks the beginning of the program in our Patagonia Retail Stores and…

Bruce Babbitt, Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, is challenging Congress and the Obama administration to set a strong conservation agenda to protect our nation’s public lands and threatened species. Listen live to Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who will speak to members of the press at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on…

by Kohl Christensen Editor's note: When the Patagonia community banged pots and pans in protest of the proposed dams in Chilean Patagonia, a large protest was scheduled to happen at the same time down in Santiago. Patagonia surf ambassador Kohl Christensen – who was visiting Chile for a surf contest – attended the protest and…

Kind thanks to Patagonia Chicago’s Kelley Freridge-Olson and Derek Schnake for today’s update on recent events at Patagonia Chicago store. People often laughed at the thought of cleaning up the Chicago River and other area waters. Thanks to the efforts of some committed citizens that skepticism is fading. – Ed For most Chicagoans, the Chicago…

We’re thrilled to announce the release of Patagonia Music Collective Volume 3, our newest album of exclusive songs from world-class artists to benefit non-profit environmental groups. You can purchase each song individually for 99 cents, or grab the entire Benefit Album for only $10.89, through the iTunes Music Store. At least 60% of the proceeds…

As the new Patagonia catalog hits your mailbox, we asked Craig Childs the author of " [Taking the power of the Rio Baker's still-wild waters. All photos: ©James Q Martin] We did good work down there – interviews and camera lenses. We sat in a bishop's house in Coihaique, his cigarette tucked into his palm…

Perhaps you’ve seen the phrase “Great Outdoors Giveaway” in the news or your inbox recently. Hopefully, you didn’t interpret it as an opportunity to get free outdoor gear. The Great Outdoors Giveaway is, according to former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, “the most radical, overreaching attempt to dismantle the architecture of our public land laws that…

“The epic fight to ward off global warming and transform the energy system that is at the core of our planet’s economy takes many forms: huge global days of action, giant international conferences, small gestures in the homes of countless people. But there are a few signal moments, and one came up when the federal…

In our coverage of the Chile dam fight, we’ve heard from many Americans who’ve visited Patagonia but we’ve yet to hear from someone who lives there. That changes today with this post from Juan Pablo Orrego, the president of Santiago-based NGO, Ecosistemas, and a leading international voice in the Patagonia Sin Repressas (Patagonia Without Dams)…

James Mills, host of The Joy Trip Project, brings us a very special podcast today from the recently held, biannual meeting of the Conservation Alliance, of which Patagonia is a founding member. Here’s James: For those of us who spend a great deal of time outdoors it’s hard to believe that there are many of…

We have advocated for over 10 years that the best way to achieve this second goal is by removing the four lower Snake River dams and allowing the salmon and steelhead a fighting chance to finish their upstream journey of many miles (as long as 900) home to spawn. Removing these dams would be the…

For over seven years now, our friends at HeadCount have been registering voters and making civic participation an easy and fun part of the live music experience. They’ve also been helping us by introducing concert-goers to one of the simplest forms of activism: buy a song, benefit the environment. Today, we’re happy to present the…

Today's post is from Warren Coleman, a lawyer whose work focuses on protection of the waterways throughout the northeastern U.S. Warren's also a certified New Hampshire fishing guide, in other words, the perfect person to help host Trout Unlimited's inaugural Vermont Trout Camp. Here's Warren with a recap of the kind of fishing that can…

Patagonia’s friend Ray Anderson, the visionary founder and chairman of Interface, died last week at the age of 77. Ray was an intelligent, soft-spoken entrepreneur, engineer, and businessman who, on reading Paul Hawken's Ecology of Commerce in 1994 called it a “spear into my heart,” embraced environmentally conscious business practices, and became a tireless spokesman…

The Patagonia Music Interview Series continues thanks to our friends at HeadCount. This time, G. Love and Samantha Stollenwerck talk about their benefit track "Ooh Dee Ooh" and why they chose Surfrider Foundation as the beneficiary from the sales. If you missed it, check out the first interview with Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley. "Ooh Dee…

If you’ve ever read a story about surfing on the Canadian coast, you’re pretty sure to have read a few boilerplate paragraphs about how pristine it is in this part of the world. How bears and wolves stroll past the tent sites on the shoreline, perhaps, or how the lineups are alive with seals and…

"But along the way I learned how the problem could be fixed and that the delta is far from dead both in terms of people who care about it and the remarkable habitat that still remains." –Jonathan Waterman When our fall catalog lands in your mailbox, you’ll find an excellent essay on the Colorado River…

While the Patagonia environmental team was busy hosting its Tools for Grassroots Activists Conference last week, one of our activist community's greatest victories in recent decades was unfolding, the removal of the Elwha Dam. If you haven't had a chance to get the full story behind the Elwha's removal, check out yesterday's post from the…

Amy Irvine McHarg is a beautiful writer. We asked her to write a post about what she cares about and to remind the readers of the Patagonia catalog to look for her essay “Seeing Red” in your mail soon. "Seeing Red" is one of a series of essays written by fine writers as part of…

It’s a double-shot of music this Monday to get your week started. Today, we have two new videos from the Patagonia Music Collective and our partners at HeadCount. First up, Adam Gardner and Luke Reynolds from Guster talk about their benefit track “Satellite” and the special concert where it was recorded. “Satellite” is a Patagonia…

Ty Draney, a member of the Patagonia Ultrarunning Team, and friend Luke Nelson recently completed the Great Salmon Run in partnership with Save our Wild Salmon. The pair were inspired to trace over 120 miles of the Snake River sockeye's migration route, motivated by facts like these: • Thirteen populations of salmon and steelhead are…

by Dave Campbell From standing guard over endangered sea-turtle eggs, to mapping oceanic pollution and starting one of the West's most successful wilderness protection organizations, our Environmental Internship Program provides Patagonia employees with opportunities to participate in the fight to protect the Earth's resources. It's been a while since we've shared an employee's story from…

The push to open Alaska’s pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to development has been at the center of numerous debates, but public outcry has consistently supported its protection and preservation. At last, citizens have a chance to secure protection for a landscape known for its bounty of untarnished treasures. Ron Hunter, of Patagonia’s environmental team,…

[Demonstrators in front of the White House protesting a proposed pipeline that would bring tar sands oil through the U.S. from Canada. Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images] From mid-August to early September this year, concerned citizens gathered at the White House to protest the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline. Over 1200 people were arrested during…

by Lynn Hill When I first started climbing, I took advantage of any opportunity to escape the city and go climbing in beautiful places with my friends. I still do. But over the years, this freedom and beauty has eroded as the world has become more populated, more polluted, and more corrupt than ever. Though…

[Video: Bridget Besaw] News on the five proposed dams in the heart of Chilean Patagonia has been slow lately as we wait for an Environmental Impact Report on the 1,200-mile power transmission lines and a decision from the Chilean Supreme Court. One item of note: The Santiago Times reported a few days ago that Argentina’s…

In 2011, we placed a provocative ad in the New York Times on Black Friday. Here we answer some of the questions we received in the aftermath.

The following Op-Ed first appeared in the Friday, November 25, 2011 edition of the Los Angeles Times. Today is Black Friday, when holiday shopping hoards descend on malls across the country, and retailers hope to turn a profit as their accounting books transition from red ink to black. This year, Black Friday comes two months…

This story was first published in December 2011.  In April 2011, we posted here a report on problems we’ve experienced sourcing down for our down clothing. As we mentioned, quality is not the problem. We’re proud of the down clothing we make. The designs are simple and beautiful, the fabrics are strong and lightweight, and…

I spent a lot of time surfing a spot in Indonesia called G-Land. Remotely located on the edge of the Alas Purwo National Park, on the southeastern tip of Java, it was, relatively speaking, far from civilization. Actually, as the Indonesian sea eagle flies, it was only about 15 kilometers from the nearest village but…

By Chris Kassar Every time I kneel down next to a river – even if just for a moment – I swear I can hear it speak to me. I know this probably sounds crazy, but I also know I’m not the only one who hears wise murmurs rising from the ripples of wild waters.…

By Laura Linn Meadows These days, taking action on an environmental issue requires little more than a click or two of the mouse button. It’s an effective way to tell your elected officials how you feel without sacrificing time from your busy life. There are some issues, however, that strike so deeply we are compelled…

Mike Colpo, associate editor of this blog and frequent contributor (as “localcrew”), died suddenly on December 7 while trail running on his lunch hour near the Patagonia Distribution Center in Reno. He was 36. [Above: Mike and Skeena share some love. East Humboldt Range, Nevada. Photo: Old School] All of us who worked with him…

Want to know what’s up with this ad? Continue reading to learn why we don’t use bamboo fabrics in our wetsuits.ON BAMBOO AND RAYON Bamboo Becomes Rayon Bamboo is the fastest-growing woody plant in the world, capable of growing up to four feet a day. Most of it is grown organically (though very little is…

In the mid-1990’s a Vermont ski area executive told me this joke. “How do you make a small fortune in the ski industry in New England?” he asked. “Start with a large one.” He was talking about the challenges he faced then, which seemed normal at the time:  limited water for snowmaking, labor shortages, skyrocketing…

by Chris Darimont How could we possibly give voice to marine mammals and other life threatened by one of the largest industrial projects ever conceived? After all, whales, dolphins and the like – as intelligent as they are – cannot mount their own defense against the oil industry. [Video: Groudswell (Trailer) from the Patagoniavideo on…

by Taylor McKinnon The Obama administration rang in the New Year with a gift to wildlands and wildlife: a 20-year ban on new mining on 1 million acres of public lands around Grand Canyon National Park. The move, in the face of a rash of new uranium-mining claims, bans new claims and prohibits exploratory drilling…

by Mike E. Wier For years, my brother and I had to sneak into one of our favorite sections of our home river, the mighty Mokelumne. The land surrounding both sides of this section of the river is owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. They had big “No Trespassing” signs up along their…

All photos courtesy of Cadence Reed I headed east from Reno to Vermont on August 15, 2011, for a two-week long environmental internship with Post Oil Solutions in southern Vermont. As I flew east over the arid Nevada landscape, I looked forward to the lush vegetation that awaited me in the Green Mountain State. I…

Over five years things change. And yet they don’t. That was the thought that ran through my head. I sat on top of a spare tire in the back of my truck that I used to call home. Becca sat in the front seat calming our six-week-old child. We were still dressed in our touring…

by Jason Rainey Water is life. Our bodies are about 60% water. Over two thirds of the surface of the Earth is covered by water, but only 0.006% of the Earth’s freshwater reserves is stored in rivers. As Patagonia's Our Common Waters campaign points out, the rivers of today’s world are broken. Roughly two-thirds of the world’s…

One year ago today, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred at 14:46 off the Sanriku coast in the Tohoku Region of Japan. It exceeded that of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the Hokkaido Toho-oki Earthquake of 1994 making it the biggest earthquake recorded in Japan’s history. Following the earthquake, Patagonia Japan’s General Manager, Takayuki…

Yvon Chouinard speaks at the 2011 Elwha River Science Symposium about the value of selectively harvesting salmon by species, a technique Patagonia Provisions is employing for our upcoming Wild Salmon Jerky. The Symposium was held in conjunction with the historic Elwha River dam removal ceremony. [Elwha River: Yvon Chouinard from Patagonia] Patagonia fly fishing ambassador…

by Topher Browne In September, 2011, The Cleanest Line reported the demise of two dams on the Elwha River in Washington State. Currently the largest dam removal project on the continent, the demolition of the 108-foot Elwha Dam and the 210-foot Glines Canyon Dam will allow five species of Pacific salmon – including a super…

About once a week, one of our stores or our customer service receives a question about the manufacturing of Patagonia clothing: Where do you make your clothes? Are they made in China? Why? Why don’t make you make them here in the United States? What are the conditions inside your factories? We thought it would…

by Ten years ago, a bad-ass wolverine mountaineer we called M3 got busy expanding his territory from the east side of Montana’s Glacier National Park into Canada. When this two-year-old bumped up against the turf of a long-established male known as M6, M3 took it over, claimed the older guy’s main squeeze – the female…

A few years ago I bought a cheap portable radio for $4.99 to listen to the news while I walk to work. Soon after, one of the earphone buds broke. No problem, I thought – I’ll just fix it using parts from my drawer of other broken electronics. No such luck: the whole radio, including…

Patagonia’s Our Common Waters campaign isn’t only about demolishing dams. The impact of a dam on rivers and ecosystems lingers well past their expiration date, so removing them is still necessary in many cases. But that’s the work of remedying our past mistakes. The future requires that we find new ways to reduce our water…

by Lisa Polley As an employee of Patagonia for the past 12 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many projects. Some of these have been interesting, some just a necessary part of my job. Never have I experienced a project with such a direct impact on the company, on its employees and on…

  As a New England boy through and through, I have to ask myself: what if over the last 80 years, Rhode Island had washed away into the sea and was now completely gone? That is essentially what has happened to Louisiana’s coastal wetlands since the 1930s. Over 1,880 square miles of land have been…

Sometimes destruction is a good thing. Last year, we watched bulldozers and jackhammers break apart and remove massive chunks of concrete from the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River in Washington, and we cheered as the first flows of water broke through the cracks. We had been waiting for this moment for…

by 2012 marks the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition’s 20th birthday – and the 14th year we have worked with Patagonia. Apart from commercial and sport fishing industry associations within SOS itself, Patagonia is the longest-running business partner in our work. Our work is to help Columbia-Snake wild salmon restore themselves – the fish will…

When I moved into the house in Dhaka where I lived in 1993, I noticed there was no wastebasket in my room. On my first trip to the market, I bought one – and soon discovered that throwing things “away” meant something different in the capital of Bangladesh than back home. What I threw into…

We are still in the earliest stages of learning how what we do for a living both threatens nature and fails to meet our deepest human needs. The impoverishment of our world and the devaluing of the priceless undermine our physical and economic well-being. Yet the depth and breadth of technological innovation of the past…

“The environment is where we live, where we work, and where we play,” said Dana Alston, a pioneer in the environmental movement. It is also, we think, any place you love. Your special place might be Yosemite Valley. Or it might be the smallest pocket park in your neighborhood. The place you work might need…

  Position: 29°11.9 North, 170°35.2 East “It’s a whale,” yells Tracey from above deck. I’m eating humus below in the salon with Dani, after forgoing Kelvin’s lunch of fried Kim Chi with rice and seaweed. Wildlife sightings are like breaking news aboard Sea Dragon, sometimes the only demarcation from one day to the next. Dani…

The good times are moving fast these days, zipping by as we fly through space on this big ball of rock. As a writer it is my job to record, to pause, to go back in time, if only slightly, and squeeze the juice out of divine moments, and leave something special for those that…

The early morning stillness is broken by a whining sound. I can barely detect it over the sound of the river whispering past. I re-set to cast and send the big black leech cross current to the far bank. I mend the line and settle in for the short drift. The light is too low to see the…

When you spend most of your days sitting at a desk and staring at a computer, it’s easy to get lost in the day to day work of managing orders, inventory and deadlines. We often forget to think about the bigger picture of what brought us to this company, but when it comes down to it,…

Recycling has come a long way, but has a long way to go. Sorting our paper, cans and bottles has become second nature for good green-leaning citizens, and many communities have expanded curbside recycling programs to include food and other compostables. But nationwide, Americans only recycle about a third of the 250 million tons of…

Chattahoochee River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers The Chattahoochee River, that flows through Atlanta, recently made the list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers. We’re helping shine a national spotlight on two boondoggle dam/reservoir proposals that are far too expensive and would harm clean water supplies, recreation, an outstanding trout fishery and wildlife habitat. “These dams…

In a remote mountainous region of northern British Columbia lies the Sacred Headwaters, the shared birthplace of three of British Columbia’s most important salmon rivers, the Stikine, Skeena and Nass. It supports one of the largest predator-prey ecosystems in North America, and it is the traditional territory of the Tahltan First Nation. Largely unprotected, numerous…

When you wake up on November 7th, what kind of future do you want to have ahead? A future in which your children – and the generations beyond them – will have the opportunities to play in the same forests, discover the same animals, climb the same mountains, and swim in the same lakes that…

Russell Train, who led the Council on Environmental Quality under President Nixon and then the Environmental Protection Agency under Gerald Ford, died Monday, September 17. The New York Times in its obituary said that Mr. Train, “shaped the world’s first comprehensive program for scrubbing the skies and waters of pollution, ensuring the survival of ecologically…

Presidential elections are the most popular and least popular event in America. In 2008, 131 million Americans voted for President. That’s three times as many people as watched the Oscar’s. A full 90 percent of registered voters turned out and more than four out of five young registered voters cast a ballot in 2008, marking…

If you’re excited by the progress being made to restore healthy free-flowing rivers and recover wild salmon across the country (think the Elwha, White Salmon, Kennebec, Penobscot, Sandy, and Rogue Rivers) – and you want to see more – please read on. First, the good news: salmon get a political champion. Every so often –…

Now that the election is over, our work continues. I support the front-line activists, the river keepers and tree sitters who work to save a single patch of land or stretch of water. Today in the United States, small groups of kayakers and fishermen work tirelessly to bring down dams; duck hunters toil to preserve…

If you ask people what they’re most thankful for in life, three things nearly always come out on top. Not their car (even if it’s a hybrid), their shiny new ultrathin laptop or a 700-fill-power goose down ski jacket. Surveys consistently find we’re most thankful for friends and loved ones, good health and the wonders…

A little over a year ago, a 125-foot-tall dam stood in Washington’s White Salmon River, a concrete plug with a serene reservoir at its back and a trickle of river spilling out downstream. But it’s hard to tell that today. The Condit Hydroelectric Dam, which was built in the early 1900s to harness the energy…

Yvon Chouinard first came onto my radar in 1999. I was a young lass from the Midwest, transplanted for the summer in southern Utah and awestruck by the dramatic landscapes of the West. Having never traveled beyond the forests of Missouri, I was eager to explore these wild mountains, deserts, and rivers. I soon discovered…

We are constantly reminded that our oil-based consumer society, with our excessive use of plastics, obsession with air travel and inefficient ways of heating and lighting our homes, will eventually lead to environmental suicide in the form of global warming and resource depletion. But for many people, including surfers, global warming and resource depletion are…

Migrating pronghorn encounter a new overpass and the freedom to roam.

The world needs GOOD stories. Fortunately there are people like Trevor Clark who put it all on the line, travel thousands of miles and spend countless hours, days and months to get these stories out there. Trevor is an outdoor adventure photographer and friend of Patagonia who decided that he wanted to tell stories that…

As Patagonia moves out of its Broken Rivers phase of the Our Common Waters environmental campaign, we wanted to take a look back at what was achieved in the last couple of years as it relates to broken rivers/dam removal. We often don’t take the time to consider these events during or after the course…

We have some great benefits at Patagonia. But none is better than the opportunity to volunteer with environmental groups through our internship program. During my 15 years working as an editor here at our headquarters in Ventura, I’ve gotten to follow wild buffalo in West Yellowstone, see the effects of industrial forestry in Chile, learn…

In September of 2011, machines began chipping away at the Elwha Dam in Washington’s lush Olympic Peninsula, kicking off the largest dam-removal project in United States history. The dam has since been completely removed from the section of the Elwha River it had occupied since 1913. Another dam upstream, the Glines Canyon Dam, located in…

On Sunday July 25, 2010, a pipeline carrying tar sands crude from Alberta, Canada, burst open and spilled more than 1.1 million gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River, near Marshall, Michigan. The oil coated wildlife and birds, soaked into wetlands and waterways, and directly impacted farmland, businesses, homes and communities as…

“Why wilderness? Because we like the taste of freedom. Because we like the smell of danger.” ―Edward Abbey Wilderness means different things to different people. For some, heading out of cell phone range is enough to make them feel like Grizzly Adams, but the Wilderness Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, defines wilderness…

Long before we were labeled tree-huggers, before environmentalist, ecologist and conservationist, people with a passion for the Earth were commonly called nature lovers. What better time than February to re-embrace the term? If there’s one thing the Common Threads community has in common, it’s a devotion to hiking, skiing, climbing, surfing, fishing and other outdoor…

His message was simple. When you are in a hole, stop digging. On Sunday morning I joined prominent environmentalist and 350.org President Bill McKibben, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, and over 50,000 protestors on the National Mall to participate in the largest climate change rally in U.S. history. The Forward on Climate Rally was…

Matt Stoecker spent his childhood tromping around in the creeks of the San Franciquito watershed where he grew up, hunting for frogs, fishing and exploring. One day in the mid-90s, he found himself below the 65-foot-tall Searsville Dam on the Corte Madera Creek when he experienced a seminal moment: He saw a 30-inch steelhead jump…

“Patagonia is not for sale! Protect her rivers!” “Defend Aysén! Keep Patagonia free from dams!” These chants echoed through the streets of Santiago, Chile in April 2012 as tens of thousands once again voiced their opposition to HidroAysén’s proposal to dam two of Patagonia’s pristine rivers, the Baker and the Pascua. A few days earlier,…

It’s not often that a small, rural region of communities declares victory against one of the largest corporations on the planet, so when it happens – WE NEED TO CELEBRATE! Editor’s note: I remember hearing Shannon speak back in 2010 when she, Ali Howard and a group of kayaking filmmakers visited Patagonia HQ to screen…

Brushing past lily pads, my canoe cuts through the serene calm of a September evening. I glide silently under massive pines in the fading light, careful to avoid the weathered snags of black spruce jutting out from shore. The water is still warm, but there is a slight chill in the air – a reminder…

The Usual magazine teamed up with Patagonia’s NYC surf crew to put together this unique edition. Check it out. “On the following pages, we start on the Bowery, where our favorite company Patagonia will take over the old CBGB gallery to open their first East Coast surf store in early 2013. Just like CBGB’s nurtured…

Tar sands oil in the Keystone XL pipeline will cross more than 1,000 bodies of water through three states threatening freshwater with a devastating oil spill. We want to get a million comments against Keystone XL to the State Department by April 22. The clock is ticking. Protect freshwater: add your name to the growing…

We are all connected by fresh water. Rivers run like arteries, crossing state and international borders, and sustaining our communities. In the west, one river links seven western states and Mexico. It’s a river that goes by different names – Red, Grand River Red, Rio Colorado, the Mighty Colorado. The Colorado River is truly a…

Put on the same level as Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, genetically engineered salmon, or “Frankenfish,” are creations designed by the biotechnology industry. The fish are devised to grow year round, which makes their appetites voracious and their dependency on feed fish unsustainably high. They are also designed to be ready for market in one and…

Folk-singer, desert goddess, rabble-rouser and all-out spitfire Katie Lee has been raging against Glen Canyon Dam and its reservoir, Lake Powell, for more than 50 years. And she’s not slowing down. Lee, who is featured in DamNation, a documentary film produced by Patagonia and Stoecker Ecological in conjunction with Felt Soul Media, has penned protest…

All of us at Patagonia have been shaken by the recent tragic events in Bangladesh. We offer our deepest condolences to all of the victims and their families. We are monitoring the press, the actions of governments around the world in response and the courageous efforts by the charities on the ground. Our stakeholders may…

As with any creative endeavor, the process of building is fraught with self-doubt. But when I showed a draft of my film, sea-swallow’d to my friend Teplin Cahall 5 months ago, I got a boost. You see, Tep can’t talk. He was born that way. Because of this and some associated developmental issues, he sees…

Update: In 2013, we launched $20 Million & Change, an internal investment fund to help like-minded, responsible start-up companies that use business to address environmental problems. After investing well over $20 million, the fund was renamed Tin Shed Ventures, honoring the tin shed in which Yvon Chouinard started Patagonia. Please visit tinshedventures.com to learn more…

This week our friends and colleagues Doug and Kris Tompkins announced a donation by Conservacion Patagonica to the Argentina national park system of Estancia Rincon, a 37,500-acre parcel of wildlands in our namesake, Patagonia-the-place. This former sheep ranch is at the foot of Cerro San Lorenzo – the most Himalayan-like peak in all of Patagonia…

People say that the “Patagonia Without Dams” campaign is epic. No wonder. This campaign is not only about saving two of Patagonia’s most magnificent rivers, the Baker and Pascua. It is not only about protecting the legendary, magical beauty of this planetary bio gem, its biodiversity and complex ecological mosaic. It is not only about…

It was a good rain that morning in Aysén up a glacial tributary of the Rio Baker. Drips came down through the roof of a one-room house where a young man named Filipe Henriquez stood next to the crackling cocina telling me about how the privatization of water in Chile, the selling of rivers, has…

“El Norte tiene el mejor potencial solar en el mundo. ¡En el mundo! ¿Pues por qué quieren represas en el Sur? Es una locura. Absolutamente una locura.” “The North of Chile has the best solar potential in the world. In the world! So why do they want dams in the South? It’s crazy. Absolutely crazy.”…

Patagonia is one of the few precious places on the planet where the array of natural beauty still defies human imagination. You are forced to think of new adjectives to describe the dramatic backdrop of snow-capped mountains and the glaciers that stand juxtaposed with green rolling hills and sheer rock faces. And through all of…

Once upon a time in a riverside village, a woman noticed a shocking sight: a drowning baby, crying its lungs out, being washed downriver. She rushed to save it, rescuing the baby just before it went over the falls at the edge of town. The next day there were two babies in the river; the…

Through our current campaign, Our Common Waters, and with exposure to increased oil and gas development near our homes and communities, we have grown concerned about hydraulic fracturing (commonly called “fracking”) and its impact on water, air, soil, wildlife habitat, and human health. Over 90% of oil and gas wells in the U.S. use fracking…

In July of 2011, Felt Soul Media filmmakers, Ben Knight and Travis Rummel, packed camera gear, computers and a few changes of clothing into a borrowed Sportsmobile van, braced themselves for a whole lot of time together and hit the road. It was the beginning of a 9,000-mile journey across the U.S. and beyond to…

Even the most tender-footed outdoor enthusiasts amongst us are familiar with the scenario. You are walking back to camp from a quick creek swim, or perhaps making your way home after a day spent chasing the hollow insides of pitching lumps of salt water, and your trusty flip-flops decide to blow out. Maybe the strap…

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” – Thoreau This year, Patagonia will be 40 years old. There is much to celebrate on this anniversary, but what I am proudest of is the support we’ve given the people who do the real work to save wildness: grassroots activists. I’m not an activist. I don’t…

In late May, Rainhouse Cinema released the short documentary Among Giants on Vimeo. The film tells the story of an environmental activist, “Farmer,” who tree-sits to protect a grove of old-growth redwood trees in northern California from clearcutting. Prior to its online release, the film played on PBS stations, Outside Television, and film festivals around…

I’ve always noticed that people who have “dream jobs” are too preoccupied with their passions to realize they even have an occupation. That’s were our little film series preOCCUPATIONS comes from. All of the characters we spent time with were very different, but they share one common characteristic: they are driven by the love for what they…

Over the past two years, Patagonia’s major environmental campaign has been Our Common Waters (OCW). The campaign influenced Patagonia’s impact on water and brought awareness to one simple fact: the more water people use, the less there is for everything else. We’re moving out of this campaign, and into our next one. The Responsible Economy…

In 1968, high jumper Dick Fosbury set an Olympics record by rejecting the standard “straddling” technique – one leg, then the other – in favor of flinging his whole body up and over the bar, head first and backwards. At first track and field officials tried to ban the awkward move dubbed the Fosbury Flop,…

They flew in from rural Alaska, from Albuquerque, South Boston and Traverse City, Michigan, where they work to stop dams, preserve native forest, create urban farms and develop regional water-management plans. Coming together at Fallen Leaf Lake (near Lake Tahoe, Calif.), Sept. 11-15, for Patagonia’s Tools for Grassroots Activists conference, some 74 environmental activists from…

Peering out the window of the plane, I took a deep breath and tried to soak it all in. The sun was glistening on the expansive mudflats, casting a bright glow over the pristine landscape. To the west, the Alaska Range was commandeering the sky, its snowcapped peaks piercing the clouds. Everywhere the eye could…

The Susitna is a huge glacial river that drains the indomitable Alaska Range. Denali looms on the horizon. One of America’s last great, wild, undammed rivers, it is home to large numbers of king, sockeye, pink, coho and chum salmon, which push through its heavy currents to spawn in its clear-water tributaries. The “Su” sees…

I stood in wonder during a walk through the valley, at day 10 or something, as the exaggerated drama played out once again in this microcosm of America – a seven-mile long, mile-and-a-half wide sacred place on earth. It was as if the place could hear itself think, or simply just talk the real language…

2004 My partner shouted at the top of his lungs, causing me to jolt to attention and look down to him and our hanging camp. We were high on El Capitan’s Shield route, and I watched helplessly as a yellow dry bag containing our garbage from the past five days – including twenty-four crushed aluminum…

A few months ago, we started a conversation about solutions with the Patagonia community.  We identified three areas where solutions are needed most:  our communities, our businesses, and our governments. Last time we talked about solutions in our communities – the closest place to home. This time, we’ll offer some contacts for rolling up your…

Some people call me an environmentalist. What in the hell is an environmentalist anyway? Growing up in my family, it was a dirty word to describe privileged and over-educated people who got their education out of a book instead of the woods. My upbringing taught me that hard work, hard damn work, was the way…

As I paddle out into the morning fog of Pruth Bay, I can’t imagine a better way to commute to work. Alongside me are my two research assistants, Julia and Owen, with big smiles on their faces. On days like this, work and fun are interchangeable, and we’re thankful for the one-hour kayak before a…

Here in the northeast spring is finally here. Flowers are blossoming, the birds are back, and we can finally peel off our winter layers and soak up a little sun. Still, even a month after we’ve returned, a part of us is still in Patagonia. In February and March of this year, Alison and I…

“There is no business to be done on a dead planet.”–David Brower Back in in the day, an activist colleague of mine liked to wisecrack that whenever corporations talked about environmental solutions everyone could live with, what they meant were “solutions” only a politically acceptable number of people would die from. That is so 1980s!…

A note from Patagonia CEO, Rose Marcario: In the past month and a half, I’ve been watching DamNation really take off. It’s really not surprising—as a result of this amazing film, people are discovering dam removal is an issue they care about and they’re taking real action to push for change. We’ve seen it gaining…

No other energy project has galvanized Chileans to action like HidroAysén–a proposal to build five dams on the pristine Baker and Pascua rivers in the Patagonia region. It has already triggered numerous debates and changes within Chile, and the final decision on the project, which will be made in less than one month, will continue…

Winner – SXSW Audience Choice Award Winner – Documentary Award for Environmental Advocacy, DC Environmental Film Festival Winner – Mountainfilm Audience Choice Award Winner – Best of Festival, 5Point Film Festival On Thursday, June 5, Patagonia will present the award-winning, feature length documentary DamNation, in 23 cities nationwide. Free screenings will be hosted at Patagonia Retail Stores and are open to…

“Chile’s Committee of Ministers – the country’s highest administrative authority – has cancelled the environmental permits for the five-dam hydropower project, HidroAysén, effectively stopping the scheme that threatened the Baker and Pascua Rivers in Patagonia.” –Emily Jovais, International Rivers This is an issue we’ve been involved with since 2007 and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Check…

Every year, Patagonia employees actively celebrate our own version of Bike to Work Week a few weeks after the national event. The Reno distribution center has a dedicated core of riders who regularly choose to cycle to work instead of burning gas. To kick off the 2014 Bike to Work Week festivities, we have a prepared…

Patagonia’s finished goods factories package each individual product we make in a polybag. Some of our direct customers (people who order from our catalog or Patagonia.com) have expressed disappointment in the amount of waste generated by polybags. This customer feedback inspired us to investigate ways to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated from Patagonia’s…

In my last essay, I talked about an updated vision of environmental changemaking, one that recognizes that many businesses are potential allies in the transformation to a responsible sustainable economy. Not all businesses, mind you, but a good number really do want clean energy, safe products, and decently paid workers. This time, we’ll talk about…

Floating the Elwha River after dam removal.

We just finished our 2014 Environmental & Social Initiatives booklet and would love to share it with you. In it you’ll find a pretty comprehensive accounting of everything Patagonia did this year to conduct ourselves in an environmentally and socially conscious manner. The booklet includes stories about our efforts as a business and as individuals,…

On an unusual Monday in March in the hamlet of San Luis Río Colorado, in the Mexican state of Sonora, hundreds of people gathered below a bridge that spans the dry channel of the Colorado River. The polka-beat of Ranchero music mixed with the sound of laughter across the sandy basin. It was a party…

I started selling fleece for Patagonia in 1993, and for six years I worked in Washington D.C., Bozeman and Reno in various customer service functions. I had a blast, learned a ton about product and people and made a network of friends who are as important to me as my college cohorts. During this time,…

The kids and I decided to squeeze in one last, close-to-home, weekday excursion before school started, so we headed over to the newly dam-free Elwha River for a little float. The last piece of the upper dam was removed last week, so it seemed like a good time to go see what had changed since…

Back in February, I started volunteering for the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy (OVLC), a nonprofit that protects open space through land acquisitions and conservation easements. They have a number of preserves scattered across the valley and the Valley View Preserve was their newest one. OVLC volunteers had already built two trails on Valley View and were…

It is the work of this generation to make clear we reject the status quo—a race toward the destruction of our planet and the wild places we play in and love. We cannot sit idly by while large special interests destroy the planet for profit without regard for our children and grandchildren. We have to…

Today did not start like most other days for the employees of Patagonia stores in New York City. We didn’t restock shelves, we didn’t organize products and we didn’t open the doors at normal hours for our customers. Instead, with the blessing of the company—and our CEO, Rose Marcario, at our side—we joined our neighbors…

The 2014 midterm elections are fast approaching in the United States. Patagonia supports candidates who will push hard for clean, renewable energy, restore clean water and air and turn away from risky, carbon-intensive fuels. We support leaders who will act on behalf of the future and the planet. Voting is an action we can all take,…

Last year, Patagonia Works announced the launch of $20 Million & Change, an investment fund for companies and initiatives that, in the words of our founder Yvon Chouinard, “work with nature rather than use it up.” We promised to update you from time to time on how this project is shaping up. [Update: the investment fund is…

On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, U.S. citizens will vote in the 2014 midterm elections. Patagonia supports candidates who will push hard for clean, renewable energy, restore clean water and air and turn away from risky, carbon-intensive fuels. We support leaders who will act on behalf of the future and the planet. Voting is an action we can…

Patagonia has a passion for the outdoors. We aspire to make the best products for the most committed athletes, all the while trying to minimize our impact on the earth and the communities that inhabit it. It can be challenging at times for us to clearly convey how this passion for the outdoors is so…

Illustrations by Geoff McFetridge From this season (fall 2014) forward, all Patagonia down products contain only 100% Traceable Down. This means all of the down in all of our down products can be traced back to birds that were never force-fed and never live-plucked—we never blend with down we can’t trace. The Traceable Down Standard provides the…

The plastic sign posted to a tree in our campsite reads: “ALL FISH MUST BE RETURNED TO THE WATER IMMEDIATELY. FISH CONTAMINATED WITH PCBs DO NOT EAT.” Paddling through a superfund site is not typically part of a canoe trip, but on day 73 and 74 of our journey from Ely, Minnesota to Washington D.C.,…

The wind gusts, blowing spray from the water lapping on the banks of Lago General Carrera. Here I stand, eyes closed, feeling the cool mist on my sunburnt cheeks. When I open my eyes it’s still there, it feels like a dream, but it’s not—Patagonia spreads out all around me. I’ve long dreamt of seeing…

This summer, the Patagonia Shipping Department in Reno, Nevada helped two local environmental non-profits. We were able to work for the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund and the Sugar Pine Foundation. This was made possible by the environmental internship program Patagonia offers to every employee. Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund (HVWHPF) is a…

President Obama’s recent protection of Bristol Bay from oil and gas exploration may feel like a victory for fish and the environment, but I think it’s really about time and money. Which in this case, is just as good. Here’s why: Oil and gas reserves, as we know, are limited by however much is already…

The Obama administration has finalized a sweeping new management plan for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska that proposes designating millions of acres as Wilderness and off-limits to most oil and gas development. President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell unveiled the Refuge’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP), recommending a Wilderness designation for the Arctic…

An open-pit mining boom is underway in northern British Columbia, Canada. The massive size and location of the mines—at the headwaters of major salmon rivers that flow across the border into Alaska—has Alaskans concerned over pollution risks posed to their multi-billion dollar fishing and tourism industries. These concerns were heightened with the August 4, 2014…

There is something intensely visceral and awe-inspiring about the Chuitna Watershed. Deep pools teeming with wild Pacific salmon pervade the vast landscape. Oversized tracks from grizzlies and moose are omnipresent, creating an eerie feeling as you navigate through fields of fireweed. And the spirit of the native Tyonek people, who have called this land home…

Please refer to the updated version of this post for the most recent information about Patagonia’s work to improve chemical safety in our supply chain. Patagonia—as well as other high-quality outdoor outerwear suppliers—for years relied on a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) of a certain chemistry (described below) to bead up, then disperse, surface moisture from…

In John McPhee’s book, Basin and Range, he talks about time, deep time, in the sense that it is a silent world of austere beauty, of hundreds of discrete high mountain ranges that are green with junipers and often white with snow. The terrain becomes the setting for a lyrical evocation of the science of…