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Patagonia Is Donating All Of Its Black Friday Profits To Save The Planet

Alexandra Ilyashov
November 22, 2016, 7:00 PM
When Black Friday rolls around later this week, most retailers will be focused on raking in the dough. But Patagonia is taking a much more conscientious tack when it comes to the post-Thanksgiving shopping bonanza. This year, the outdoors retailer is making a big environmental statement with its Black Friday mission: The company is donating all of its sales to grassroots environmental groups. Yep, you read that correctly. A full 100% of sales from all 80 store locations as well as the brand's site will go towards saving the planet.

LoveOurPlanet. This year Patagonia will donate 100% of its global Black Friday sales to grassroots organizations working in local communities to protect our air, water and soil for future generations. These are small groups, often underfunded and under the radar, who work on the frontlines. The support we can provide is more important now than ever. For decades, Patagonia has demonstrated that caring for our planet is not in conflict with running a successful business.  We are always looking for ways to reduce our manufacturing footprint, including our company’s reliance on fossil fuels.  We also fund grassroots environmental organizations by giving away one percent of our sales. To date that amount is $74 million. But during a difficult and divisive time, we felt it was important to go further and connect more of our customers, who love wild places, with those fighting tirelessly to protect them. This we know: if we don’t act boldly, severe changes in climate, water and air pollution, extinction of species, and erosion of topsoil are certain outcomes. The threats facing our planet affect people of every political stripe, in every part of the country, of every demographic. We all stand to benefit from a healthy environment – and our children and grandchildren do, too. By getting active in communities, we can affect local change to protect the food we and our children eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and the treasured places we love the most. And we can impact global priorities, too, by raising our voices to defend policies and regulations that will reduce carbon emissions, build a modern energy economy based on investment in renewables, and, most crucially, ensure the United States remains fully committed to the vital goals set forth in the Paris Climate Agreement. At Patagonia, we will grow and deepen our resolve to protect what we love. We will fight harder and smarter, and use every means at our disposal to prevail for the sake of the country, the planet and the wild places and creatures that need our voice. We are here and we’ll keep fighting.

A video posted by Patagonia (@patagonia) on

As for the scope of the brand's eco-friendly efforts? Sales are estimated to exceed $2 million on Black Friday for the rugged retailer, so it's no small change. The decision to donate all sales to better the planet was actually spurred by the election. "This is a difficult and divisive time for our country," Lisa Pike Sheehy, vice president of environmental activism at Patagonia, told CNN. "I believe the environment is something we can all come together on." Though there's a timeliness factor at play, it's also not a one-day-only sort of gesture, though it certainly is a very grand one. The brand donates 1% of daily sales to organizations that focus on the environment. (That amounted to $7.1 million in the most recent fiscal year.) The retailer's climate-sensitive Black Friday initiative follows its Election Day decision to close all of its stores, as well as its HQ in California and distribution center in Nevada, to urge all employees to get out and vote. (And, in the process, make a statement about the importance of voting.) Perhaps Patagonia's ultimate do-gooder Black Friday move will compel people to snatch up an extra parka or two...

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