Patagonia and the University of California, Berkeley joined forces to sponsor a competition open to graduate students across the country.
The objective was to find alternatives to perfluorinated chemicals (PFC’s), which are used extensively in outdoor apparel to provide durable water repellent protection from rain. Last week, the finalists presented their ideas to Patagonia and other spectators.
Durable Water Repellent – The Problem
Patagonia creates high-performance clothing for the outdoors. Protection against rain and wind are performance benefits needed in outdoor apparel. Today the company relies on fluorocarbon-based Durable Water Repellent (DWR) chemistries, which are unfortunately, considered toxic and persist in the environment. The Greenpeace Detox campaign has targeted the elimination of PFC’s and theses chemicals are coming under continued and increasing scrutiny. A recent Greenpeace study found traces of PFCs in the waters of high-altitude lakes around the world, illustrating why Patagonia has placed an urgency on actively researching durable water repellent chemistries that will afford high performance with less environmental impact.
Patagonia has carefully researched and tested fluorocarbon-free alternatives but they quickly lose their effectiveness, thus reducing the lifetime of a garment. This short life span means that the garment must be replaced more frequently, which constitutes its own environmental problem.
The Competition
This challenge required teams to respond to the following prompts.
- What should Patagonia do within the next 3 months?
- What should Patagonia do within the next 2 years?
- A high-level vision of the impact the proposal will have over the longer term 5 to 10 years
Themes
The eight presentations were excellent. Some focused specifically on business strategies whereas others provided potential scientific solutions to PFC free technology. There were some common themes that surfaced in the presentations.
1. Industry Engagement
Work as an industry to solve the problem. Engagement could be through joining ZDHC, a group of leading brands publicly committed to zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020, or the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). One big voice with a common objective would encourage chemical companies and other innovators to put much needed resources to find a solution. A brand such as Patagonia has the reputation and leadership to drive and move this critical mission forward.
2. Engage the Consumer
Consumers may not know or be aware that PFC’s are a big problem in this industry. Two themes surfaced as it relates to the consumer.
- Increase awareness through social media, education on websites and perhaps offering point of sale labels to explain the issue.
- Offer more choices. Not every product requires the level of performance provided by PFC’s and yet apparel companies are offering DWR on many categories including lightweight jackets, shorts, and fleece. Patagonia could offer DWR performance based on the end-use. Heavy-duty mountain gear may require PFC’s whereas more casual apparel would not need as much performance, and this could be obtained by PFC- free alternatives.
3. Renew and Repair Products
The final theme fits very nicely into the Patagonia brand DNA. Patagonia would establish a new business model where it repairs and reapplies PFC-free technology to existing jackets, thus increasing the life of the garment. This could be offered through current retail stores and through wholesale partners such as REI. This trend of reuse is gaining momentum in the sustainability space.
I won’t share which idea and which school won the competition. Perhaps that is for another blog post
What are the impacts to your business?
Questions to consider:
- Has your company identified hazardous chemicals in products?
- Are you seeking safer alternatives?
For help with any issue associated with chemicals, contact Amanda Cattermole at (415) 412 8406 or Amanda@cattermoleconsulting.com. We can help you develop powerful solutions to protect your company and brand reputation and result in safer products manufactured in cleaner supply chains.
Tips and Insights contains information to help you make informed chemical management decisions. Each post highlights a particular topic and includes questions you may want to consider for your business.