Patagonia will give 100 percent of global sales from its own stores and on patagonia.com on Black Friday to support grassroots environmental organizations, the outdoor specialist said Monday.
Patagonia already donates 1 percent of daily global sales to environmental grassroots groups, but the company said “during this difficult and divisive time, it is important that we come together and #LoveOurPlanet.”
Rose Marcario, president and chief executive officer of Patagonia, said, “We’re just days from Black Friday, one of the biggest consumer shopping days of the year in America. And as people think generously about family and friends, we also want to help our customers show love to the planet, which badly needs a gift or two.”
Marcario said the donations will go to organizations “working in local communities to protect our air, water and soil for future generations.”
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“These are small groups, often underfunded and under the radar, who work on the front lines,” she said. “The support we can give is more important now than ever. We’ll also provide information in our stores and on our web site about how to get in touch with these groups and easily be active in your own communities — on Black Friday and every day.”
She said for decades, Patagonia, based in Ventura, Calif., with 80 stores around the world, “has demonstrated that caring for our planet is not in conflict with running a successful business.”
“We are always looking for ways to further reduce our manufacturing footprint, including our company’s reliance on fossil fuels,” Marcario said. “We also fund grassroots environmental organizations by giving away 1 percent of our sales. To date, that amount totals $74 million.”
But at this time “we felt it was important to go further and connect more of our customers, who love wild places, with those who are fighting tirelessly to protect them.”
“This we know,” the ceo said, “if we don’t act boldly, severe changes in climate, water and air pollution, extinction of species and erosion of topsoil are certain outcomes. The threats facing our planet affect people of every political stripe, of every demographic, in every part of the country. We all stand to benefit from a healthy environment.”
Marcario said by getting active in communities, people can effect local change to protect the food people eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and the treasured places.
“And we can impact global priorities, too, by raising our voices to defend policies and regulations that will reduce carbon emissions, build a modern energy economy based on investment in renewables and, most crucially, ensure the United States remains fully committed to the vital goals set forth in the Paris Climate Agreement,” she said.
The 1% for the Planet global organization connects “dollars and doers” to address the most pressing issues facing the planet. It is a network of 1,200 member companies and thousands of approved nonprofit partners located in more than 40 countries. Its members have given more than $150 million to environmental nonprofits.