• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 15, 2008

Patagonia, which normally focuses on the 30-plus adventure crowd, is targeting Gen Y in its new "Vote the Environment" campaign.

While the company ran smaller versions of the campaign in the 2004 presidential and 2006 midterm elections, this year's is the most extensive, reports a spokeswoman.

Reaching out to 18-to-25 year olds, a demographic segment that is expected to make up one third of the U.S. electorate by 2015, the effort has three prongs.

"The first idea is to get more people registered, so we've linked with headcount.org. The second is to get voters educated about a politician's record on environmental issues, so we've linked with the League of Conservation Voters, which can provide detailed voting records of where national and local politicians have stood on various environmental initiatives," she says. "And finally, it's to get people to get people into voting booths with the environment top of mind."

The campaign went up on the retailer's web site last week. In addition to its own and linked web sites, the effort will also get a heavy push in stores, through Patagonia dealers, and with partnered magazine ads, as well as social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.

The company is also working with musician Jack Johnson, she says, and will go on tour with him this summer, and will hook up with other musical festivals, including Austin City Limits.

The company is selling "Vote the Environment" T-shirts, donating $5 from each one to the League of Conservation Voters.