Good for Business, Good for the Planet

Speaker: 
Rick Ridgeway
 
02 Feb 2017
 
8:00 PM
 
Great Hall, Memorial Union

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Rick Ridgeway is Vice President of Public Engagement at Patagonia, a maker of high-performance outerwear whose mission to protect and preserve the environment is at the core of its business operations. This year Patagonia pledged to donate every cent of its Black Friday profits - a total of $10 million - to grassroots environmental organizations. Ridgeway, one of the world’s foremost mountaineers, has held numerous leadership roles at Patagonia during his long history with the company. He is responsible for many of its key sustainability initiatives, including the Footprint Chronicles, designed to bring transparency to the supply chain; Worn Wear, which encourages reduced consumption through its repair-and-recycle program; and the Responsible Economy Campaign. Murray Bacon Center for Business Ethics Lecture

Ridgeway also co-founded the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, whose Higg Index helps quantify sustainability and set industry benchmarks for reducing environmental impacts. Patagonia's many other practices include donating 1 percent of its sales to green causes, collaborating to develop new materials and technologies that reduce the industry's carbon footprint, and protecting wildlife corridors across North America and globally. In addition to being a successful businessman, Rick Ridgeway is recognized as one of the world’s foremost mountaineers and adventurers who has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2. Ridgeway has also produced and directed several documentary films and written dozens of magazine articles and six books, including [i]Seven Summits, The Shadow of Kilimanjaro[/i] and [i]Below Another Sky[/i]. National Geographic recently honored him with its “Lifetime Achievement in Adventure” award. Before joining Patagonia, Rick Ridgeway was owner and president of Adventure Photo & Film, a leading stock photo and film agency.