Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative to Reduce Our Environmental Footprint

Common Threads Initiative: Watch the Video Common Threads Initiative: Take the Pledge

There is a reason that 'recycling' comes last in the mantra: Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle.

Recycling is what we do when we're out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first. That's why I am so impressed with Patagonia for starting its Common Threads Initiative with the real solution: Reduce. Don't buy what we don't need. Repair: Fix stuff that still has life in it. Reuse: Share. Then, only when you've exhausted those options, recycle.

There is a reason that 'recycling' comes last in the mantra: Reduce, Repair, Reuse, Recycle.

– Annie Leonard, author of The Story of Stuff