Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Your Clothes!

Have you heard? Two of the biggest names in outdoor apparel, The North Face and Patagonia, (which happen to be two of our biggest brands), each have their own clothing recycling program with the goals to reduce production and waste, as well as preserve resources and make the planet a greener place.

Patagonia's Common Threads program started in 2005 and has been going strong. You might have seen their surprising clothing campaign last year: a big banner on their website with the words "Don't Buy Our Clothes", urging you to not buy what you don't need... Even if that's their products. Their goal is to close the loop within their clothing production--that is, only make products--i.e. jackets, pants, etc--that can be completely recyclable. They're not there yet, but it's not far off. Watch the Common Threads video to get more inspired, and go onto their website to take the pledge yourself.

The North Face just launched their own clothing recycling program, Clothes the Loop. Their campaign has three basic principles: Recycle, which involves placing your used and unwanted clothing into recycling bins at participating stores, Reward, which gives you an extra $10 off your purchase of new gear when you recycle your old, and Renew, where all the proceeds from the program go to the Conservation Alliance.

These companies are truly blazing the trail to keep our environment clean by reducing waste and causing less harm from production. Will you take the pledge to only buy what you really need?