Can a business go green and stay in the black? Yvon Chouinard has built the model.

“Business has been accused of despoiling the environment, but it can enrich our lives and make a profit without losing its soul,” Chouinard, owner of Ventura-based Patagonia outdoor gear and clothing company, told a standing-room-only crowd at his Palo Alto store Tuesday. All the way back in 1970, Chouinard ditched the most successful element of his business, metal pitons, because they damaged rock, substituting reusable chocks that became wildly successful - a perfect example of doing well by doing

good, as the saying goes.Businesses near and far are jumping on the sustainability bandwagon, vying to see which can seem the most green. But privately held Patagonia, which had $270 million in sales in 2007, has been environmentally responsible since 1972, when it grew out of Chouinard Equipment.

A crowd of about 300 hikers, bikers, climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts jammed the 2,500-square-foot store Tuesday night to hear Chouinard speak and get signed copies of his 2005 book “Let My People Go Surfing,” spilling out the front door onto the sidewalk. (Complete story here; photo from Patagonia Web site.)