Wear Longer / Buy Less

IF EVERYONE BOUGHT 1 USED ITEM INSTEAD OF NEW, IT COULD SAVE NEARLY 6 LBS OF CO2 EMISSIONS… THAT’S EQUIVALENT TO MOVING 500,000 CARS OFF THE ROAD FOR ONE YEAR

BY WEARING YOU CLOTHS FOR 9 MONTHS LONGER, THE CARBON FOOTPRINT FOR THAT GARMENT WILL BE REDUCED BY 30%

Raise Prices

It can be difficult to incentivize consumers to buy less. Often environmental reasons aren’t enough to change the habits of buyers. However, there are many strategies to reduce quantity. The easiest is to raise prices.

The only reason shoppers are buying 63 items of new clothing every year is because they can. Throughout most of history, however, consumers have been required to limit their selection based on purchasing power. As a result, people bought fewer items and were incentivized to make them last.

If a consumer buys a $20 pair of shoes, they have little incentive to repair them or use them frequently. If a consumer buys a $200 pair of shoes, they will do everything in their power to make them last.

Responsible Business

Some retailers consider the environment heavily when making business decisions.

Patagonia is one one these brands. Founder and CEO Yvon Chouinard has prioritized the environment over business growth on many occasions.

• Patagonia uses only naturally derived materials for its products, refusing synthetics despite their economic appeal.

• Patagonia will fix or replace any item of clothing at no charge.

• Chouinard has refused to scale the clothing brand in an exponential model.

• 1% for the Planet. Patagonia pledges to spend 1% of all profits to help restore the planet.