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Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles is a remarkable feat for a fashion company: a visualization of their products’ global supply chains on a map, along with videos of each step in the manufacturing process, and descriptions of each item in terms of distance traveled, CO2 emissions, waste generated and energy consumption. Not only is it impressive that a company would reveal what the environmental impact of products is, it’s really amazing that they would treat their customers like intelligent people instead of selling them meaningless greenwash. But there are problems with this approach: the footprint chronicles have a caveat:
“These examinations are partial and preliminary. Each season we’ll examine a few new products. As we learn more, the picture will gain more focus through the haze. And the more we see, and then give some thought, the more bad practices we’ll be able to change with all the speed we can muster.”
In sum, we must await their internal examinations to gain a more accurate picture of what’s going on with these inefficien global supply chains. On the other hand, each chronicle features a “The Good” section as well as “The Bad,” where they reveal that they don’t know the source of certain materials, that they can’t be recycled, and other embarrassing information. It would probably be better if experts could contribute their analyses of the impact of known processes, but it’s always good when the deciders reveal what they don’t know and can’t decide in the first place.
. Leo is a artist, inventor and all around practical person in the Tangible Media Group at the Media Lab. He has a background in sculpture, architecture and industrial design as well as an MS from the Media Lab spent working on the kitchen of the future. He is on a search for truth.
