Is Patagonia Sustainable or is it Greenwashing?

Welcome to my “Sustainable or Greenwashing” series where I'm sharing if brands and products are actually what they say they are.

Is Patagonia sustainable or is it greenwashing? 🏔️

Patagonia is the brand every other brand gets compared to, so I wanted to see if it actually holds up — or if the green halo is doing most of the work.

The company was founded in 1973 by rock climber Yvon Chouinard in Ventura, California, and its mission statement is pretty direct: "We're in business to save our home planet." Big words. Let's see what is behind them.

In 2022, the Chouinard family gave the whole company away — literally. All of the voting stock went to the Patagonia Purpose Trust to protect the mission, and 98% of the company went to the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit that receives all profits not reinvested in the business and uses them to fight the climate crisis. Chouinard's headline for it was "Earth is now our only shareholder." The company projected that would mean roughly $100 million a year going to climate work.

On the certifications front, this is the strongest file I have seen in this series. Patagonia has been a Certified B Corporation since 2011, with a B Impact Score of 166 — you only need 80 to qualify. They have given 1% of sales (not profits — sales) to environmental groups since 1985, and Chouinard co-founded 1% for the Planet back in 2002. They have made Fair Trade Certified sewn clothing since 2014, and say the program has impacted more than 75,000 workers in 10 countries. Their Worn Wear program takes back used gear, repairs it, and resells it — they repaired over 174,000 products in their last fiscal year alone.

And the materials story is real, too. Patagonia was the first company to make clothing from recycled plastic bottles, back in 1993. They have used only organically grown cotton since 1996. And on PFAS — the “forever chemicals” in waterproofing — they phased out the worst treatments years ago, and as of fall 2024, 99% of their water-repellent fabric was made without intentionally added PFAS, with all new styles PFAS-free from spring 2025 onward.

So… is there a “but”? Of course there is. Nobody in this series gets a free pass, not even Patagonia.

Their own most recent report says their emissions went UP — about 182,000 metric tons of CO2e, roughly 19% above their 2017 baseline — and they abandoned their goal of being carbon neutral by 2025, saying the offsets did not meet their standards. About 85% of their products still have no end-of-life solution. And a 2023 investigation found Patagonia producing in some of the same factories as fast-fashion brands, with workers reportedly earning less than half a living wage. To their credit, Patagonia quoted that criticism directly in its own report instead of hiding it — but it still happened.

Here is the thing that stuck with me most: Patagonia's own report opens with the line "Nothing we do is sustainable." A company that makes jackets for a living, admitting that out loud, in its own report? That is the kind of honesty I wish every brand in this series had.

So is Patagonia sustainable or is it greenwashing?

I'm going to say sustainable — and I mean it as the highest compliment this series gives out. The certifications are third-party and verifiable, the giveaway is real, the repair program is real, and they publish their own failures. But “sustainable” here means “doing more than anyone else and still not there yet” — their emissions are rising, and their own words say the work is not finished.

What do you think — is Patagonia the real deal, or is there more they could do? Let me know, and if there is another brand you want me to cover, send it my way!

I have many more deep dives on the Sustainable or Greenwashing hub — stick around for all things mind, body, and planet! 🌎

XOXO, Krys

Sources:

• https://www.patagoniaworks.com/press/2022/9/14/patagonias-next-chapter-earth-is-now-our-only-shareholder
• https://www.patagonia.com/progress-report/
• https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/patagonia-inc/
• https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/about/story
• https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/pfas.html
• https://www.patagonia.com/our-responsibility-programs.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonia,_Inc.
• https://trellis.net/article/patagonias-comprehensive-plan-counter-rising-emissions/
• https://www.fashionunited.uk/news/business/ftm-patagonia-exploits-textile-workers-and-produces-in-fast-fashion-factories/2023061570022
• https://www.krystalynngier.com/blog/sustainablebackpacks