Wow! I just read this seriously thought provoking story over on Groundswell.org. Its takes a look at outdoor clothing giant Patagonia’s direction to sell less product. Yup, you read that right, they want to limit growth. Company founder Yvon Chouinard has been quoted as saying “We ask our customers to think twice before you buy a jacket from us. Do you need it, or are you just bored? … Since corporations run the government, if you want to change the government, you have to change the corporations. If you want to change the corporations, change the consumers.”
It’s a pretty seriously interesting read and looks at the idea of making profit for profit’s sake and the impacts that has on green consumerism.
Have a read of the story and do check out the comments below as they are as equally thought provoking as the story itself. That said we’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter and how it relates to the bike industry, which, with its model year bike releases, clearly wants you to buy the latest thing as often as possible.
You can check the story out here.
Interesting alright. But, of course it doesn’t apply to free stuff . . . does it?
I can just see consumers buying two jackets in protest. Take that, Patagonia!
One of Yvon’s gems that has stuck with me is, “At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen ‘when you do everything else right’.”
His book “Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman” is a worthwhile read.
Great article and very pertinent to the cycling industry. In 24 years in the industry, I’ve seen to much of it and try to change it where ever I can.
There is a massive amount of waste in cycling, things that can’t be recycled like all those light weight carbon frames, rims and handle bars that fail and sit in distributors warehouses waiting to be disposed of. Very few things are really made to last long and companies that don’t do proper R&D are the worst, putting their barely tested product into the market, just to sell something knowing it will fail. Yes this happens more than you can imagine. The good stuff costs a lot of money and can usually be rebuilt, and will generally last a long time. A much better way to spend your money and time not having to get things fixed so often and riding more. It seems the companies that have the biggest marketing campaigns and the most sponsored riders are the worst offenders. They need to make lots of money the give their stuff away and pay people to use their products. Be aware of the hype, because that’s what selling more product is all about. Hype, not need.