In reply to alix:
good point all of that. As the focus of this post is Patagonia, the company, I think I remember a few years ago reading their catalogues(on recycled paper, but internet is now more enviromentally frinedly) and finding out that not only were they some of the first people questioning the ecological impact of cotton (thus the later use of organic cotton, you can't really go wrong with that one) or funding ecological associations, but they also produced all their stuff in California, where the factory had a kindergarden for the employee's kids etc. Well, they claimed carring for the wellbeing of everyone. Hard to verify, but I would trust them. I don't know if they still produce their stuff in countries that, say enforce decent working conditions, and even go beyond local working laws.
Other companies claimed some time ago that 70% of their products were made in EU and I haven't seen that label on their products for a while.
In term of quality (it's true that you'd rather keep a product for a long time), I haven't always been so impressed with Patagonia stuff. It depends what it is really but it was not always that long-lasting. Also I vaguely remember that in my mind Patagonia was at the top of the range in terms of price (which I put down to the assumed civilised production conditions), but after checking a product or 2 recently, found them relatively 'cheap' compared with other brands. Not sure what's the reason for that.
Just to keep people informed, there is a post on Patagonia's blog about down for the down jackets and apparently it all comes from Eastern Europe or China, from geese that are reared for food in god-knows-what conditions. All makes apparently use these geese's down, and although down is a byproduct, I'm not sure how vegetarians and animal friends will appreciate. Besides, not sure what are the work conditions in these geese factories either.
On a different note, something I have been wondering for a while: is it more environemnt friendly to order on internet and get the stuff delivered or posted, or is it better to go and shop in town? I think that's a hard one.