Bushwalk Australia

Patagonia will use 100 percent traceable down across its entire collection of down-insulated products starting in the Fall 2014 season, the outdoor apparel company says.

Patagonia Traceable Down is sourced from birds that have been neither force-fed for foie gras production nor plucked for their feathers and down during their lifetime.

Patagonia verifies its down supply chain by using a traceability audit consisting of a physical inspection of the entire supply chain, performed by an independent, third-party traceability expert, the company says. Wendy Savage, Patagonia’s social and environmental responsibility manager, says while affidavits from suppliers are commonly accepted with minimal verification at other companies, Patagonia’s audit program is hands-on, beginning at the farm where the eggs are laid and ending at the garment factory, where the down is placed in jackets and other products.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013 ... eable-down

This could really be a game changer for the down wear industry! Ethically sourced down is a big purchasing factor for a lot of consumers.

up until now it's been difficult to prove that all of your down was ethically sourced, the sources for the down could be so numerous it could be hard to really know where it all came from

Cynically, it's justification to maintain premium pricing. Objectively, it's a responsible move. Subjectively, it's a good image for Patagonia.

could also be a shrewd move, if they can genuinely prove all their down is ethically sourced they are ahead of the vast majority of the market, theres a growing awareness about ethically and unethically produced down. there may be a growing market in people looking to buy ethically produced down.

Good move I think too.

They might be the first to be able to apply the 100% traceable label, but they are not the first to use ethical down. Tundra has been doing it for some time.

http://www.tundrasleepingbags.com/Ethics.asp

So we set out to source our down in a gentler way and discovered a special down in Poland. This is collected from the nests of birds that are kept for breeding and live on rivers, lakes and open farm land, moulting naturally four times a year. This naturally moulted down is then hand collected from the nests without disturbing the birds who are allowed to live to a ripe old age, doing what birds do naturally in the wild.

Q: How many here would place the source of down as a priority or decider in their purchase decision?

GPSGuided wrote:Q: How many here would place the source of down as a priority or decider in their purchase decision?

mate, how about starting a poll on a seperate thread?

Thought that was a legitimate discussion point under the title of this thread and a natural flow on from existing discussions, no? Any suggested guideline on how you would like this thread to flow? I'm all ears.

polls are an easier way for people to respond to a question like that, you can see the result at glance instead of scrolling up and down a bunch of entries.... up to you, just a suggestion

As in the question, the decision point won't likely be a single factor, hence a poll would not be that useful for the likely small number of participants involved. However, what's more of relevance is people's considerations on this point and as such, a discussion prompter.

GPSGuided wrote:Cynically, it's justification to maintain premium pricing. Objectively, it's a responsible move. Subjectively, it's a good image for Patagonia.

Like.

I'm usually more price sensitive than ethical. That said, if given a choice I will take a more ethical option if there is one available at a similar price point.

GPSGuided wrote:Q: How many here would place the source of down as a priority or decider in their purchase decision?

Me and I did from Tundra,
corvus

patagonia make good products but they are one of the more expensive brands around, i'm not into paying top dollar for products when theres similar around for less.. so if i dont like a companies pricing policy i'm unlikely to buy from them just because they make out their are "ethical" they also claim to be an environmentally friendly company trying not to use too many toxic chemicals but a scientific analysis on rainshells by greenpeace showed that wasnt the case.
sometimes i wonder how often companies chase the environmentally friendly ethical tag just to draw attention to themselves and the snob value when they are charging you top dollar...
if they cared they'd try and price their products so more people could afford them and then maybe the environment would be better off than having people go to cheaper even less environmentally friendly brands....