From it's inception in 1972, Patagonia has been a thought leader in sustainable business and environmental stewardship. Always creative in their approach to combatting the manufacturing industry's global impact, Patagoina started recycling consumer plastic to make their PCR fleece in 1993, and has pledged 1% of annual sales (yes, you read that right—sales not profits) to environmental preservation projects since 1985. For the company whose mission statement is to "Build the best product and cause no unnecessary harm," Patagonia can be said to go above and beyond.

As if this were not enough, Patagonia has recently challenged its customers to join the cause of responsible consumerism. Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative asks the public to sign a pledge vowing to reduce, repair and reuse our goods with the goal of eliminating all unnecessary purchases and consumerism. Learn more about the Common Threads Initiative here, and help Patagonia achieve their goal of 50,000 pledges in 2012.

From the Common Threads Pledge:

"I agree to buy only what I need (and will last), repair what breaks, reuse (share) what I no longer need and recycle everything else."