Patagonia releases book: Tools for Grassroots Activists

FEBRUARY 16. Patagonia has announced the release of a new book, Patagonia’s Tools for Grassroots Activists: Best Practices for Success in the Environmental Movement, marketed as a written counterpart to Patagonia’s Tools Conference. The Tools Conference is an event activists have attended since 1994 to learn how to apply advocacy techniques for environmental issues with the same savvy for-profit organizations, such as Patagonia, use to market clothes to consumers.

Patagonia Environmental Grants Manager Lisa Myers says she hopes the new book will compliment the bi-yearly conference and inspire future activists to work together and grow the environmental community.

“There aren’t many resources out there for the non-profit world to use. There are a lot of new organizations that are looking for examples and information to help them be more effective,” says Myers. “We are also hoping that this book’s reach will extend beyond the non-profit world—a book for other businesses, because the business sector is glaringly absent in supporting environmental work.”

“Tools for Grassroots Activists is comprised of a collection of essays written by presenters from past conferences, including acclaimed activists such as Jane Goodall, Bill McKibben, Wade Davis, Annie Leonard and Terry Tempest Williams,” explains Tuesday’s Patagonia press release. “They offer pointed advice and best practices for grassroots advocacy, fundraising, marketing and communications, campaign strategy and social media, among other critical areas.”

In addition to stories and tips from famous and well-seasoned activists, Tools for Grassroots Activists also presents case studies describing specific environmental battles that have been fought and won to help frame a picture of successful activism for future environmentalists.

Patagonia has a history of engaging in environmental ethics both in their clothing production through programs like their Traceable Down project and in the non-profit world through their Environmental Grants and Support program that gives money to grassroots environmental non-profits around the world.

Myers hopes that Patagonia’s Tools for Grassroots Activists will build on pre-existing internal and external programs that focus on environmental responsibility.

“We see ourselves as an activist company and we look at what we can do both internally and externally that can really make a difference [environmentally],” says Myers. “We see this book as an extension of that.”

To promote the release of the book, a series of podcasts highlighting talks by contributors such as Bill McKibben and Terry Tempest Williams can be found on the Patagonia SoundCloud page.

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To learn more about with Tools for Grassroots Activists and the Tools Conference, visit Patagonia.com. Read more about Traceable Down in our December Issue Apparel Guide.