Patagonia, an outdoor apparel company, has long been dedicated to promoting environmental stewardship both outdoors and within its own facilities. It has a history of supply chain-level efforts aimed at measuring and reducing energy and water use as well as waste and greenhouse gas emissions; however, up to this point, they have not investigated the impact their materials and products could potentially have on the marine environment. In an effort to better understand these impacts, Patagonia has partnered with the Bren School to determine which materials are being found in the ocean and how significant those impacts are to the larger issue of plastic waste in the ocean. 

Many stakeholders are impacted by microplastic pollution: the apparel industry, fishermen, special-interest groups such as the 5 Gyres Institute and Algalita Marine Research Foundation.