Farmers who grow their cotton without harmful chemicals reduce their reliance on big agrochemical companies and reduce their workers’ exposure to potentially toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Organically farmed cotton employs nature-based solutions to manage pests and to build healthy soil, instead of the synthetic pesticides, herbicides, defoliants, fertilizers and GMO seeds used to grow conventional cotton.

An ever-growing number of our products are Fair Trade Certified™ for sewing, which means we pay a premium to the workers in the factories that make them. The Fair Trade program also helps to create better working conditions and safeguards against the use of child labor.

fairtradecertified.org

Old, frayed and torn fishing nets are discarded partly because of a lack of end-of-life solutions. Bureo®, a company based in California, is trying to fix this and to provide a responsible alternative to virgin plastics by working directly with fishing communities in South America.

An important fiber in Patagonia's line, polyester allows them to build lightweight materials that dry quickly and can be used in a variety of applications, including trail-running tops and yoga tights. Polyester also blends well with natural fabrics like cotton. But virgin polyester is derived from petroleum, which comes at a high environmental cost.