Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard feels very strongly about operating his company by convincing customers to follow along with the mantra of reduce, repair, reuse, recycle and reimagine.
In this interview he did with GreenBiz he identifies the Elephant in the room as growth in regards to a sustainable future. Not one public company will voluntarily restrict growth to save the planet. In fact, he points out that the problem is us! We’ve gone from identifying ourselves as citizens to consumers. “We’re like an alcoholic in denial. Until you get rid of the denial – nothing will happen.”
It’s hard to question the intentions of Patagonia as not being truly sustainable, considering they run anti-consumption advertisements. On Black Friday in 2012 they ran a New York Times ad with a Patagonia jacket under the headline “Don’t buy this jacket”.
Chouinard wants customers to think of the fact that the environmental cost is always higher than the price. He challenges customers to think twice before they buy something. “Do you need it, or are you just bored?”
It makes perfect sense but I know that I’m guilty of buying things I don’t need on many occasions. Is there a way to change our perception so we can go back to identifying as citizens rather than consumers and truly thinking through our purchases before mindlessly consuming?
What an interesting perspective coming from the founder of a company that runs on our mindless consumerism. It is also interesting to acknowledge that their credibility almost makes consumers more likely to purchase their products opposed to competitors, because they feel less guilty about their consumption if the environmental impact is less harmful.
While perhaps consumers need to focus on being citizens and not have consumption at the forefront of their lives, I think it will take more than one company stepping forward and attempting to make the customer rethink their purchase. In away, without a band of groups supporting the same idea, there could be issues of free-riding for the companies who are not enlisting in efforts to reduce overall consumption.
I wonder if the government will ever step in to discourage consumption… At this point, I see them intervening in the event of campaigns such as this, to ensure that citizens remain consumers. I think it will take a movement from the consumers themselves to enlist this change. But I guess it needs to start somewhere, and it is definitely admirable that Patagonia has made efforts to promote responsible consumption. We are so programmed to want to buy everything, stopping to think about the necessity of each purchase would definitely curb spending, in turn reducing our environmental impact… So long as these behaviours are encouraged by companies and the government….
What would make the world go round without consumption?