????一位公司高管竭力勸說(shuō)客戶(hù)不要購(gòu)買(mǎi)本公司的產(chǎn)品,？這聽(tīng)起來(lái)未免太荒唐了,，但這正是伊馮?喬伊納德喜歡做的事情。素以直言不諱,、破除傳統(tǒng)觀念著稱(chēng)的喬伊納德是高端戶(hù)外服飾和設(shè)備制造商Patagonia公司的創(chuàng)始人,。他認(rèn)為，資本主義正走在一條不可持續(xù)發(fā)展的道路上,。在制造和銷(xiāo)售的過(guò)程中,，我們使用太多的資源，購(gòu)買(mǎi)低質(zhì)量商品,，然后迅速地將其扔掉,。喬伊納德最近與Patagonia公司高管文森特?士丹利合作撰寫(xiě)了一本頗具挑釁意味的新書(shū)《負(fù)責(zé)任的公司》（The Responsible Company）。喬伊納德在書(shū)中辯稱(chēng),，我們必須邁向一個(gè)商品皆為高質(zhì)量,、可回收且可修復(fù)的“后消費(fèi)主義經(jīng)濟(jì)”時(shí)代。正如這位熱衷登山運(yùn)動(dòng)的企業(yè)家所言,，現(xiàn)在,，“我們生產(chǎn)、銷(xiāo)售的大多數(shù)東西都是臭狗屎,?！?/p>

????他現(xiàn)在給出的解決方案非常簡(jiǎn)單：如果Patagonia滑雪服的手臂上裂了個(gè)口子，不要把它扔掉,，然后再去買(mǎi)一套新的,。請(qǐng)把它寄回來(lái)，Patagonia公司會(huì)給你縫好,。你的帳篷已經(jīng)無(wú)法修復(fù)了,？請(qǐng)把它寄回來(lái),，Patagonia公司將回收這些材料。

????我們幾乎可以聽(tīng)到沃爾瑪公司（Wal-Mart,，財(cái)富500強(qiáng)企業(yè)）的高管們從位于阿肯色州本頓維爾市的公司總部中發(fā)出的喘息,。但Patagonia公司的做法或許不無(wú)道理。這家年銷(xiāo)售額高達(dá)4億美元的私營(yíng)公司報(bào)告稱(chēng),，盡管它鼓勵(lì)顧客減少消費(fèi),，它也依然賺到了真金白銀。至少?gòu)哪撤N意義上說(shuō),，Patagonia公司已經(jīng)贏得了沃爾瑪?shù)闹С帧?008年,，Patagonia與這家巨型零售商合作，共同發(fā)起一個(gè)名為“可持續(xù)服裝聯(lián)盟（Sustainable Apparel Coalition）”的組織,。該組織成員生產(chǎn)的服裝現(xiàn)在占全球服裝總銷(xiāo)量的30%以上,。這個(gè)聯(lián)盟目標(biāo)是研發(fā)工具，測(cè)量,、監(jiān)控并減少服裝產(chǎn)業(yè)對(duì)環(huán)境造成的影響,。這并不是一件容易完成的任務(wù)。比如,，追蹤一件襯衫的原材料的來(lái)源可能會(huì)費(fèi)盡百般周折而不能如愿,。你或許聽(tīng)說(shuō)某家中國(guó)服裝制造商正在使出渾身解數(shù)堅(jiān)守環(huán)保標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但為它提供染料的公司是什么情況呢,？

????喬伊納德的批評(píng)者指出,，他自己當(dāng)然“玩得起”激進(jìn)的環(huán)保策略，原因是,，作為一家私營(yíng)小公司的老板,，他無(wú)需面對(duì)季度收益惡化引發(fā)的公眾怒火，進(jìn)而可以從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的角度考慮問(wèn)題,。但他反駁說(shuō),，減少一家公司對(duì)環(huán)境的影響對(duì)股東同樣有利。下一代消費(fèi)者（包括數(shù)百萬(wàn)使用有機(jī)食物,，穿有機(jī)服飾的千禧一代）是不會(huì)善待污染者的,。如今，社交媒體無(wú)所不在,，污染環(huán)境可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生非常嚴(yán)重的后果,。此外，喬伊納德還認(rèn)為,，由于人口不斷增長(zhǎng),，需求增加，勢(shì)必提升石油,、鋼材,、水和其他原材料的價(jià)格，那些使用更少資源制造產(chǎn)品的公司有望降低成本,，并由此占據(jù)更有利的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)地位,。

????眼看著中國(guó)、印度和其他發(fā)展中國(guó)家的經(jīng)濟(jì)毫無(wú)拘束地增長(zhǎng),，看到數(shù)十億人正在競(jìng)相追逐美式生活,，我們很難想象喬伊納德所夢(mèng)想的那個(gè)消費(fèi)更少，污染更少,，商品質(zhì)量更高的烏托邦世界將會(huì)一統(tǒng)天下（他并沒(méi)有解釋低收入消費(fèi)者怎樣才能負(fù)擔(dān)高質(zhì)量的產(chǎn)品）,。喬伊納德深知挑戰(zhàn)之嚴(yán)峻。他指出,，生產(chǎn)一件使用有機(jī)棉制成的Patagonia馬球衫需要耗費(fèi)相當(dāng)于900個(gè)人一天飲用水的水資源,，產(chǎn)生30倍于其自身重量的二氧化碳，以及3倍于其自身重量的垃圾,。這稱(chēng)得上可持續(xù)嗎,？沒(méi)有什么經(jīng)濟(jì)活動(dòng)是可持續(xù)的，但喬伊納德正在引領(lǐng)我們實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)夢(mèng)想,。

????譯者：任文科

????An executive who tries to talk his customers out of buying his products? It sounds nuts, but that's just what Yvon Chouinard loves to do. The outspoken, iconoclastic founder of Patagonia, maker of high-end outdoor clothing and equipment, believes that capitalism is on an unsustainable path. In the process of making and selling, we use too many resources and buy low-quality goods that we quickly throw away. In his new, provocative book, The Responsible Company, written with Patagonia executive Vincent Stanley, Chouinard contends that we must move toward a "post-consumerist economy" where goods are high quality, recyclable, and repairable. Today, as the mountain-climber entrepreneur puts it, "most of what we produce to sell each other is crap."

????His solution, for now, is simple: Have a Patagonia ski parka with a rip in the arm? Don't throw it away and buy a new one. Send it back, and the company will sew it up. Is your tent beyond repair? Send it back, and Patagonia will recycle the material.

????You can almost hear Wal-Mart's executives gasping all the way from Bentonville, Ark. But Patagonia may be onto something. The private company, with annual sales of $400 million, reports that it makes money even while encouraging its customers to consume less. And in at least one sense, it has won overWal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500). In 2008, Patagonia joined with the big-box store to launch the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, whose members now produce more than 30% of all clothing sold globally. The goal is to develop the tools to measure, monitor, and reduce the impact the apparel industry has on the environment. It is no easy task. Tracing the origins of, say, a shirt's raw materials can be devilish. You might know that a Chinese maker of the cloth is doing her best to uphold environmental standards, but what about the company that supplied the dye?

????Chouinard's critics point out that he can afford to go radically green because, as the owner of a small private company, he can think long-term without the pressure of public outrage at quarterly earnings. Reducing a corporation's impact on the environment is good for shareholders, he counters. The next generation of consumers -- including millions of millennials who eat and wear organic -- do not take kindly to polluters. The consequences in this age of social media can be severe. Chouinard also says he believes that companies that make their products with fewer resources will lower their costs and be in a better competitive position as the prices of oil, steel, water, and other raw materials inevitably rise due to increased demand from growing populations.

????When one looks at the unbridled growth in China, India, and other parts of the developing world, where billions are vying for an American lifestyle, it's hard to imagine that Chouinard's utopian world of less consumption, less waste, and higher-quality goods will prevail. (How low-income consumers will afford high-quality products, he doesn't say.) He does understand the challenge, pointing out that a Patagonia polo shirt, made of organic cotton, consumes in the making enough daily drinking water for 900 people and produces 30 times its weight in CO2 and three times its weight in waste. Sustainable? No economic activity is yet sustainable, but Chouinard is leading the charge to get us there.