Outdoor clothing company Patagonia donates entire $10m Black Friday sales to environmental organisations
Firm takes dig at Donald Trump’s stance on climate change as it announces support for conservation projects
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Your support makes all the difference.Clothing company Patagonia, which is best known for making squashy down-filled winter jackets, says it will donate its entire $10m takings from Black Friday to environmental organisations.
The high-end outdoor apparel company said its “astounding” total sales were five times its own expectations.
The firm had previously promised to donate “every cent” it took in sales on Black Friday to charities and organisations involved in environmental work, and said the “enormous love” its customers had shown (by spending so much), would help hundreds of grassroots conservational projects.
The company also made pointed reference to Donald Trump’s repeated claims that global warming is a “hoax”, and his promise to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Patagonia said the $10m would “go a long way” to helping organisations address environmental problems.
“The science is telling us loud and clear: we have a problem,” the company said in a blog post revealing its record breaking sales.
“By getting active in communities, we can raise our voices to defend policies and regulations that will protect wild places and wildlife, reduce carbon emissions, build a modern energy economy based on investment in renewables, and, most crucially, ensure the United States remains fully committed to the vital goals set forth in the Paris Agreement on climate change.”
The company, whose products have stormed the coat hooks of middle-class homes across the west, usually donates one per cent of its sales to organisations dedicated to protecting the natural environment.
Patagonia, along with hundreds of US companies including Nike, Gap, Starbucks, The North Face and eBay, have warned that pulling out of the Paris Agreement would “put American prosperity at risk”.
In an open letter addressed to Mr Trump, President Barack Obama, members of Congress and global leaders, the companies wrote: “We, the undersigned members in the business and investor community of the United States, re-affirm our deep commitment to addressing climate change through the implementation of the historic Paris Climate Agreement.”
“We want the US economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon energy. Cost-effective and innovative solutions can help us achieve these objectives.”
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