Outdoor clothing and gear company Patagonia has announced that it has joined a sustainable packaging platform, partnering with environmental nonprofit Canopy's Pack4Good initiative to switch from tree-based paper packaging to packaging made from agricultural waste, Edie reported.
According to Canopy's statistics, 3.4 billion trees are cut down yearly to make paper packaging and fabrics such as rayon and viscose, with many of those trees coming from the world's most ancient and endangered forests.
Canopy's Pack4Good initiative — in which companies work with Canopy to ensure that their packaging materials are coming from recycled and post-consumer recycled inputs and agricultural waste instead of ancient and endangered forests — is now supported by 445 brands worth almost $250 billion in annual revenue, the company said, and those numbers now include Patagonia.
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"This commitment comes at a crucial time when the need for low-carbon alternatives to forest-based packaging is more pressing than ever," Canopy's founder and executive director Nicole Rycroft said. "By supporting the scale-up of Next Gen materials, Patagonia is not only contributing to the preservation of Ancient and Endangered Forests, it is leading the outdoor apparel sector towards a more sustainable future."
Patagonia signing onto this planet-friendly pledge should come as little surprise. Patagonia is notable among for-profit companies for its uncommonly high commitment to environmental causes. The company's other recent initiatives include reducing waste by creating an "endlessly reusable" wetsuit, taking back any used items in exchange for store credit, and more.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard also made headlines recently when he announced that he was transferring 100% of the company's voting stock into a fund devoted to "fighting the environmental crisis and defending nature."
"Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn't end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people," Chouinard told the New York Times. "We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet."
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