Patagonia Team, Yvon Chouinard Build Hay

Can hay bales headed for the landfill be repurposed as home-building materials? With Yvon Chouinard involved, it's a no-brainer.

Yvon Chouinard may have given away his company to fight climate change, but he’s hardly taking a vacation.

The Patagonia founder figures large in the company’s latest documentary about improving our collective stewardship of the environment. “Home, Grown” follows architect and climber Dylan Johnson and a small crew as they build two houses in California. The catch? They’re using straw bales that would otherwise have gone to waste.

When building materials contribute an estimated 5-15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Patagonia press release, finding sustainable ways to build will be a necessary part of addressing climate change.

“Which begs the question: What if we used materials that not only take less carbon to produce, but also can capture and store carbon?” the company said in a statement.

Folksy wisdom meets modern problem-solving in this short doc about yet another way we could do better by Mother Earth.

Don’t miss it.

Runtime: 12 minutes

Today, seminal rock climber and entrepreneur Yvon Chouinard waved goodbye to Patagonia, the brand he helped start. Read more…