. Another thing that is really catching hold is the idea of regeneration. The idea that business should go beyond just cleaning up after oneselves as you mentioned, but actually be creating a positive benefit to natural systems and biodiversity. So first, I like to hear a little bit of how Patagonia is thinking about regeneration and how that's shaping your work.I agree that's a major shift. It was an internal argument for revision.
, goes back to William McDonough’s cradle-to-cradle, and Marian Chertow’s brilliant work on industrial ecology at Yale: One company’s waste can become another company's feedstock. The more we do business that way the more we're going to reduce our adverse environmental and social impacts and open our imaginations to solving the world’s problems creatively.
Marquis: That fits well. I know Patagonia was an early innovator on organic cotton as well, quite a long time ago now. Another big question I have in regards to how things have changed over the past 10 years is in regards to the ownership shift that happened. About a year ago I feel very strongly that when you start to say, “We have to compromise between the business purpose and the business profit,” you're sunk. It is fine to acknowledge the tensions. But once you start talking about compromise between purpose and profit you know which side is going to lose. If the business model isn’t based in your company’s purpose, you don’t have one. So for us the new purpose statement clarifies what is truly important and helps us make better decisions.
Marquis: The next 10 years do you have any predictions where we will be? I think about 2012, I would not have predicted there would be a movement on regeneration, and these new ownership structures would be implemented. If you were to do a new version of the book 10 years from now, what sort of innovations do you see coming down the pipe?We know that over 80% of our environmental impact is in the materials we use. Reducing our own impact remains a strong focus.