Outdoor apparel brand Patagonia is taking measures to move its packaging away from paper and toward alternative fiber sources in an effort to protect endangered forests.

The company has partnered with Pack4Good, a sustainable packaging initiative from Canopy, which is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting forests, species and climate.

Patagonia, whose garments sell at retail and in the promotional products industry, will be focusing on next-generation packaging solutions that come from more sustainable sources, such as agricultural waste.

Paper packaging – like delivery boxes, hang tags and shoeboxes – is responsible for 3.1 billion trees being logged annually, many from climate-critical forests, according to Canopy.

“Patagonia is excited to announce its partnership with Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative,” said Jennifer Patrick, packaging and branding director at Patagonia. “As part of our goal to build the best product and constantly improve everything we do, we are taking steps to review and develop new more responsible packaging materials in partnership with Canopy.”

445 brands
have signed on to the Pack4Good initiative.(Canopy)

As part of ongoing efforts to minimize environmental impact, Patagonia has been using 100% recycled content for all of its packaging and catalogs. The next phase in the sustainability journey involves collaborating with Canopy to develop and scale next-generation packaging solutions using alternative non-forest fibers to significantly reduce reliance on primary forest resources.

“We are so pleased to be welcoming Patagonia to the Pack4Good family,” said Nicole Rycroft, founder and executive director of Canopy. “This commitment comes at a crucial time, when the need for low-carbon alternatives to forest-based packaging is more pressing than ever. By supporting the scale-up of next-gen materials, Patagonia is not only contributing to the preservation of ancient and endangered forests, it’s leading the outdoor apparel sector toward a more sustainable future.”

So far, 445 brands – worth more than $249 billion in annual revenue – have signed on to the Pack4Good initiative, according to Canopy.

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