Well, Yvon Chouinard’s still got it. The 81-year-old Patagonia founder recently sat down with Fast Company to talk all things planet Earth, and the continual — and innovative — efforts he and his company are making to preserve it.
“The 81-year-old is more focused than ever on demonstrating, by Patagonia’s example, the lengths a company can go to protect the planet,” the story says. And those examples are wide ranging.
“We’ve made a commitment to be fossil-fuel-free by 2025. We’re invested in companies that are working on growing synthetic fibers, stuff made from plants rather than petroleum.” He’s also convincing suppliers to “use cleaner energy,” fighting to save geological areas that naturally suck carbon out of the air, and paying cotton farmers in India extra to get into “regenerative organic agriculture,” among other things.
He also thinks Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ obsession with interplanetary travel is both “pretty silly” and a “real shame,” saying that the “monies that are going toward space exploration should be used to save our own planet right now.”
“We’re in a triage situation,” he said. “Things are so grim. It’s World War III. I lived through World War II, and I remember what the country had to do to mobilize… That’s what has to happen with this global warming business.”
So how does he reconcile all this with still running a clothing brand? “Everything man does creates more harm than good,” he said. “We have to accept that fact and not delude ourselves into thinking something is sustainable. Then you can try to achieve a situation where you’re causing the least amount of harm possible.”
You can read more about it at Fast Company.
