Juniata High School

Amid our current climate crisis, scientists and politicians worldwide are searching for solutions. Some solutions seem more evident than others. One solution you may not have been expecting is clothing. Clothes are helping to save the Earth. Patagonia, an outdoor clothing brand, is donating roughly $100 million of its profits annually to help stop climate change. Yvon Chouinard, the owner of Patagonia, was often detached from society in high school and found himself in nature. Being considered an outcast, his love for nature and its beauty only grew after traveling and enjoying the scenery of the Patagonia region. After enjoying this scenery, something called him to start his outdoor clothing store, Patagonia. Now being successful billionaires, he and his family are giving back to what helped him get this business started; nature. To start this, they made Earth its sole shareholder; in addition to the $100 million annually, he also gives $3 billion worth of assets to non-profit organizations. The Chouinards were one of the first clothing businesses to donate more than 10% of their profits to eco-activists. Since then, they have encouraged many other clothing lines and businesses to contribute by joining “1% for the planet”. While capitalism may have corrupted most of society, the Chouinards’ stay untouched from that part of society and will continue to put back into the Earth.