Bluesign® Standard
We have worked with the independent Bluesign® standard since 2000 to evaluate and reduce resource consumption and to screen raw materials, including dyes and finishes, used in our supply chain. Bluesign® technologies, based in Switzerland, audits the energy, water and chemical usage of its members and helps them achieve continuous, long-term environmental improvement.
Bluesign® members agree at the outset to establish management systems for improving environmental performance in five key areas of the production process — resource productivity, consumer safety, water emissions, air emissions, and occupational health and safety. Members regularly report their progress and must meet improvement goals to maintain their status; Bluesign® technologies performs regular audits.
In addition, Bluesign® technologies helps factories implement an input-stream management system for raw materials. This includes screening of chemicals, which are assigned to one of three categories: blue, safe to use; gray, special handling required; and black, forbidden under the standard. Bluesign® technologies helps factories eliminate black chemicals and find equivalent alternatives.
It’s a rigorous standard, but nine of our suppliers have now signed on. By the fall of 2011, Bluesign® approved fabrics will comprise 30 percent of the total fabric used in Patagonia products. Our progress has inspired us to work with other suppliers in the outdoor industry to encourage more major textile providers to adopt the Bluesign® standard.
Background Photo: by Tim Davis. Patagonia volunteers pulling fences, Conservacion Patagonica, Valle Chacabuco, Chile