What We're Thankful For: Giving Back, One Percent at a Time

Thanksgiving is the weekend we all slow down, take a moment and say what we're grateful for. For most of us at Elements, the list starts the same way every year and it includes the outdoor places we spend our time; A river in September, a ridgeline after the first snow or a  marsh at dawn loud with ducks.

Those places don't look after themselves, so we try to give something back…

The 1% promise

Elements Outfitters and Patagonia Calgary, Banff and Victoria are proud members of 1% for the Planet, a global community of businesses that commit to donating 1% of all sales to organizations dedicated to protecting our home planet. The program was founded in 2002 by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies. The idea is a simple one: if you make a living from the outdoors, a small slice of every sale should go back to it.

It's 1% of sales, not profit, so it comes off the top whether it was a great year or a tough one. That has added up to over $700,000 donated to local environmental non-profits since inception. 

And "local" matters to us. We think it’s important to put the money to work in the mountains, rivers and forests adjacent to our communities.

Who your purchases support

Here's a look at some of the groups we've backed, and what they got up to in 2026:

Freshwater Conservation Canada. Formerly Trout Unlimited Canada, FCC protects and restores Canada's freshwater ecosystems. Recently their annual Fish Rescue relocated more than 35,500 fish out of Alberta's irrigation canals, and they’ve kept working on projects like Cooling Squirrel Creek. We've teamed up with them on a few things we're proud of, including a collaboration at the Calgary Folk Music Festival that raised over $2,000 in donations and our Fly Fishing Trivia Night. Learn more

Guardians of the Ice. The Columbia Icefield is shrinking fast! Guardians of the Ice uses photography, film and science to communicate what's at stake in the hope that more people will feel moved to act in their personal lives. We are presenting sponsors of their MELTDOWN: A Drop in Time exhibition, which began at the Whyte Museum in Banff and can now be visited in the Glacier Gallery at the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre. Learn more

Ancient Forest Alliance. AFA is fighting to protect BC's endangered old-growth forests. They marked their 15th anniversary in 2025! Co-founder TJ Watt's photography has been central to that work. Learn more

Ways to give a little more

1% is just the beginning! If any of these causes speak to you or sound like something you’d like to know more about, all of the groups above have donation pages and great resources from which to learn. We would also love to invite you to come down to our stores for community events, trivia nights, movie showings and more. Follow us on instagram or join our mailing list to learn more about upcoming events… 

Come join us in person for our 1% events!

Follow our social media accounts to see when we have events for our 1% partners at Patagonia Calgary, Patagonia Banff,  Patagonia Victoria or our Elements Outfitters locations. We would love the opportunity to meet with you and see our communities support these amazing organizations.

Shop Guardians of the Ice in person!

You can also shop the Guardians of the Ice merch in person at our Patagonia Banff location or shop it online here: Shop the Guardians of the Ice Collection