Patagonia 'Worn Wear College Tour' promotes sustainability

Patagonia's 'Worn Wear College Tour' has been promoting sustainability in universities to educate students about the growing number of sustainability initiatives taking place on college campuses. Patagonia is hitting the road with the Post-Landfill Action Network, a student-led zero-waste movement, as they visit sustainable universities around the country.

The tour will make a stop at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on March 8. Patagonia's Worn Wear programme was created in 2013 to encourage consumers to repair, reuse, and recycle used clothing. The sustainable tour by the clothing and outwear company includes a visit from a Patagonia garment repair truck, activities from sustainable on-campus organisations, and a talk about environmental activism.

Patagonia's focus on zero-waste aligns closely with UMass Amherst's role as a sustainability leader. The Worn Wear College tour kicks off at UMass on March 7 with a screening of the documentary 'The True Cost'. The film offers a view into the world of fast fashion and the human and environmental implications that arise from it.

On March 8, the Patagonia Worn Wear Truck will be stationed outside the Student Union repairing rips, tears, broken zippers and more on used clothing of any brand. The Worn Wear team, which can fix about 40 garments per day on a first-come, first-served basis, will also be teaching visitors how to fix clothing by themselves. One garment repair is allotted per guest.

Rick Ridgeway, Patagonia vice president of public engagement will also give a talk on 'What to Do, How to Live: Personal Activism for a Threatened Planet'. The talk will focus on how to move forward in a world facing environmental crises and the personal activism needed to help combat them. "The time is ripe for change as the environmental crisis depends and students are graduating with more debt than previous generations – resulting in adaptations that are based less on ownership of new stuff and increasingly on borrowing, sharing, leasing and buying used. It comes down to evolving towards a more responsible, circular model of business and living – which is what Worn Wear is here to celebrate and encourage," Ridgeway said in a press release.