More clothing manufacturers and retailers are going out of their way to tout their sustainability credentials, from the use of organic cotton and recycled PET bottles to even accepting clothes in stores for recycling. But in recent years, the social ... View More
Call it the veal-calf concern of this decade: The down in many winter coats and other apparel is obtained through oppressive animal-welfare practices, and Patagonia has taken the lead in trying to right that wrong with the introduction of its Traceab... View More
Patagonia has launched Truth to Materials — a capsule collection for Fall/Winter featuring seven styles of jackets, sweaters and scarves made from raw, reclaimed or alternatively sourced materials. The company says the collection represents “radi... View More
Alongside Fair Trade Month, Fair Trade USA has announced the launch of several new Fair Trade Certified™ products across new categories, including home goods, apparel and coconut.In 2014, the third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North Am... View More
Recent significant advances in both sustainability assessment and societal awareness have resulted in businesses placing growing importance on full product value chain transparency. This relates to the need to investigate social impacts throughout pr... View More
In 2012, Patagonia announced that, after four years of research with partner Yulex Corporation, it had developed a sustainable, plant-based replacement for neoprene — the petroleum-based material used to make wetsuits, which has a highly toxic manu... View More
The time when we were happily seduced into reaching far, far beyond our means with a promise of infinite everything and the glittering lure of a‘larger-than-life’ life, seems, to some of us at least, quite archaic now.But even in our socially enl... View More
Annie Longsworth of Saatchi & Saatchi S served as MC for our last day at SB’14. Reminding cause-marketers that we do things when we want to and need to and not when we’re told to, Longsworth eloquently introduced a series of plenaries with th... View More
After a rousing morning of plenary presentations, the spirit of authenticity, transparency and “reimagining partnership” continued into the afternoon Tuesday as dozens of brands and NGOs discussed strategies, limitations and creative solutions to... View More
A survey released this week of expert stakeholders from business, government, NGOs and academia across 87 countries shows that Unilever, Patagonia, Interface and M&S are viewed as leaders in corporate sustainability. ... View More
The newest trend in social responsibility in the apparel sector emerged in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam on Monday as several of the world’s most influential clothing brands gathered to develop a roadmap to creating a more sustainable supply chain and conse... View More
Patagonia, GoLite, Seventh Generation, New Belgium Brewing Company and 80 other global companies have been named “Best for the Environment” by the nonprofit B Lab.The ‘B Corp Best for the Environment’ list honors businesses that earned an env... View More
Patagonia has announced a strategic investment in CO2Nexus, a company that has developed a sustainable method of processing (cleaning, disinfecting and coating) textiles and garments using liquid carbon dioxide — which uses zero water, consumes les... View More
San Francisco-based Timbuk2, famous for its ubiquitous messenger bags, has launched the Timbuk2 Life Cycle — a robust environmental responsibility program to reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, and reimagine Timbuk2 bags — in partnership with yerdle,... View More
Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability recently launched the Executive Master’s for Sustainability Leadership (EMSL), a 13-month program designed for mid-career professionals currently employed in or near sustainability roles. The pr... View More
In 1988, my antenna tweaked toward an emerging trend soon to be called ‘green consumerism.’ A hole in the ozone layer was discovered over Antarctica, nightly newscasts tracked the daily wanderings of the Mobro garbage barge, and air pollution cl... View More
When Patagonia launched its Responsible Economy campaign last fall, VP of Environmental Initiatives Rick Ridgeway eloquently summed up the ‘elephant in the room’ of capitalism: Growth is not sustainable. Ridgeway accepts that evolving from our cu... View More
No one can deny that the emergence of circular economy thinking is throwing up some fascinating dynamics right now. This urgent need for systems-level redesign requires an experimental cocktail of innovation and imagination, not to mention open platf... View More
As 2014 gets underway, I have been privileged to participate in a wide range of forward-looking discussions taking place within the global Sustainable Brands community, and especially within our membership group. My takeaway going into the year is th... View More
There’s a house on Long Island that can keep you young. At least, that’s what the architects claim – and it’s no small matter in an aging world. If I asked you what you’d look for in your ideal home, you might reply ‘a space to unwind’ ... View More