A three-time Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, Nathan Duncan has a background in social studies and environmental education and a passion for the outdoors. Since 2019, Nathan Duncan is the general manager at Patagonia in Palo Alto, California where he leverages his leadership experience in the education sector to manage a team of 30 staff members.
Patagonia has been making clothing and climbing gear for 48 years now, with a constant commitment to quality in a world where everything is becoming disposable and Americans are throwing away an average of 81 pounds of clothing in a year. This approach to clothing, footwear, and similar goods is harming the environment, and Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard has always been attentive to environmental issues and the impact of both the production and use of clothing and gear on the planet.
In the past five years, Patagonia designed and perfected a scorecard to assess the quality of products that includes ten criteria which help assess the quality and environmental impact of each product by questioning whether they are functional, durable, aesthetically appealing, or whether they cause unnecessary harm, among other things.
Nowadays, based on the ten-point assessment, Patagonia products have an average score of 8.87, and any products below 8 are dropped or the production is postponed to the following season so they can be improved. The goal is to create products that are durable and sustainable to promote a mentality that gives more value to things.
Patagonia has been making clothing and climbing gear for 48 years now, with a constant commitment to quality in a world where everything is becoming disposable and Americans are throwing away an average of 81 pounds of clothing in a year. This approach to clothing, footwear, and similar goods is harming the environment, and Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard has always been attentive to environmental issues and the impact of both the production and use of clothing and gear on the planet.
In the past five years, Patagonia designed and perfected a scorecard to assess the quality of products that includes ten criteria which help assess the quality and environmental impact of each product by questioning whether they are functional, durable, aesthetically appealing, or whether they cause unnecessary harm, among other things.
Nowadays, based on the ten-point assessment, Patagonia products have an average score of 8.87, and any products below 8 are dropped or the production is postponed to the following season so they can be improved. The goal is to create products that are durable and sustainable to promote a mentality that gives more value to things.
