The shirt off my back

First, a housekeeping item. I changed the name of yesterday's post. It was terrible.

Today we're looking at something a little different. I proselytize a lot about the chemicals in health and beauty products, but what about something that always in contact with our skin: fabric.

Think about it. From the moment of birth, we are in constant contact with some type of fabric. Even if you sleep nekkid a la Joey Tribiani (another Friends reference, because I am SO middle aged) you're still rubbing up to those sheets and blankets all night long.

What's in our fabrics? What's used to dye them? And what about sizing, or dry cleaning chemicals, or even laundry detergent? I almost don't want to know.

Which brings me to Patagonia. You know, the adventure outerwear company. During the Spring I picked up a couple cute Patagonia tops at my local REI, on clearance (remember, I'm a cheap b*tch). Never mind the fact that the tops were too small, the purchase somehow landed me on their mailing list. The first mailing I got a few weeks back was a hybrid catalog/marketing brochure. And there, among the pages of very fit, healthy looking people wearing Patagonia garments was the story of how they came to clean up their supply chain.

Apparently back in the 90s factory workers were complaining about headaches and other ailments, that ended up being traced to the formaldehyde and other chemicals used to finish the fabrics and textiles from which their garments were made.

These days Patagonia is a major partner with bluesign, an industry-leading standard and system for ensuring environmentally-friendly practices throughout the supply chain, from cotton field to mill and factory. Patagonia even has a program to recycle its clothing after you've worn the sh*t out of it. Now too bad they can't do anything to get me into those too-small super cute tops I bought...

Read about Patagonia's corporate and environmental responsibility here. You can learn about bluesign here (other brands that partner with them include Polartec, Lululemon, Nike, Helly Hansen...).

Am I a sucker? Probably. But I can't miss the chance to laud any one person's or company's efforts to do right by their employees and customers. That's smart capitalism, believing that what's good for us is also good for them. Love it!

Happy Tuesday,
Jazzy