Vote Her: Patagonia urges its community to vote for Mother Earth

VENTURA, Calif. - Patagonia launched the Vote Her campaign today to urge its community to elect climate candidates up and down the ballot in this fall's general election in the United States.

Following last month's news about how the outdoor apparel company is closing its U.S. stores, offices and distribution center for Vote Early Day, Patagonia is doubling down by asking the community to vote for Mother Earth. The company has partnered with the League of Conservation Voters to provide employees and customers with opportunities to knock on doors, make phone calls and mail letters to voters, with the goal of increasing voter turnout and electing leaders at the local, state and federal level who will advance public policy for clean water, clean air, public lands and the climate. LCV and their state affiliates hold elected officials accountable by providing voters with scorecards to see how state and federal elected officials rate on environmental legislation.

"To save our planet from the climate and nature crisis, we must elect leaders who share our sense of urgency," said Corley Kenna, vice president of communications and public policy at Patagonia. "We're asking our community to vote for Mother Earth, just like we have since we took out our first local newspaper ad in Ventura in 1978 to advocate for specific candidates and ballot measures."

The 1978 advertisement in the Ventura County Star-Free Press, placed by Great Pacific Iron Works, which is Patagonia's original retail store.

Patagonia is reissuing a limited run of the "Vote Her" T-shirts it produced in 2020. These shirts say "Vote Her" with an image of Earth. The shirts will be sold on patagonia.com and in select Patagonia retail stores, including Seattle, San Francisco, Ventura, SoHo, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.

Patagonia is giving full-time and part-time U.S. employees a paid day off on Vote Early Day on Oct. 29 to not only vote but also to volunteer with LCV, which it has been working with for more than two decades. Patagonia's U.S. stores, distribution center and offices will be closed for the day as civic engagement takes precedence over business and commerce.

"For Patagonia, voting is a priority because democratic participation creates the foundation for progress on every issue we care about," Kenna said.

Voter turnout remains stubbornly low in the United States. To help improve participation, Patagonia has been giving its employees the day off to vote since 2016. In 2018, it co-founded Time to Vote with Levi Strauss & Co. and PayPal to recruit other companies to ensure workers don't have to choose between voting and earning a paycheck. Time to Vote now includes more than 2,000 companies.

About Patagonia

We're in business to save our home planet. Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. As a certified B Corporation and a founding member of 1% for the Planet, the company is recognized internationally for its product quality and environmental activism, as well as its contributions of more than $230 million to environmental organizations. Its unique ownership structure reflects that Earth is its only shareholder: Profits not reinvested back into the business are paid as dividends to protect the planet.

###