HanesBrands Employees Contribute to Preservation of Salvadoran Protected Natural Areas

EL SALVADOR, San Salvador, April 27, 2013 /3BL Media/ – HanesBrands celebrated the annual Earth Day by leading a day of environmental work in one of the country’s protected natural areas located in the coastal region of San Luis Talpa, La Paz county.

More than 1,200 employees came together at El Pimental beach to remove debris along three miles of beaches and to also plant 1,000 trees in the Hacienda Santa Clara protected natural area, a contribution which is expected to have an important positive impact in the efforts to preserve the area’s coastal mangrove forest.

This is the first time in the country’s history that a single private sector company has been able to mobilize such a large group of people in an environmental activity to benefit El Salvador’s protected natural areas.

“This is the third consecutive year in which we have been able to mobilize a very large number of employees in support of a major environmental preservation activity. Hanes’ participation in these kinds of initiatives is part of the company’s commitment to protecting the environment of the communities where it has operations. This year, the number of Hanes employees involved in the effort exceeded 1,200. This massive support speaks to the level of awareness that our employees have regarding the importance of supporting sustainable practices in the country,” said Teddy Mendoza, environmental and CSR manager at HanesBrands. 

The company’s CSR manager added that this initiative creates awareness not only among the company employees, but also in the community’s population at large, regarding the importance of preserving and protecting all natural environments, especially the country’s protected areas. Plastics, cardboard, and other materials that were picked up in the cleanup will be able to be recycled for the benefit of the local communities.

The debris clean-up and tree-planting work hours provided by Hanes employees for this activity will now be added to the more than 30,000 hours of volunteer work that has been performed during the past three years by company employees for a number of other educational and environmental improvement projects.

“The private sector’s participation is key because it increases environmental awareness across all levels of the business community and stresses that providing a clean environment for the future generations depends on all of us,” said Elizabeth Gómez, Coordinator at FUNDEMAS for the   ‘Let’s Clean El Salvador’ program.

Hanes’ commitment to environmental protection has also included reforestation work in other protected natural areas in the vicinity of the company’s other production plants, having to date completed the planting of more than 20,000 trees belonging to endangered species.

The funds needed to support these types of initiatives are obtained from the local Viviendo Verde (Green for Good) program, part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program at Hanes. Viviendo Verde generates proceeds by recycling materials from the manufacturing processes in all six plants to finance the company’s social investment. The program has to date benefited 110,000 residents living in the communities surrounding the company’s plants.

Hanes has operated in El Salvador for 21 years, a period in which the company has generated more than 9,500 jobs throughout its 6 production plants, and invested $200 million in production and facility improvements, employee training, the development of eco-friendly production operations, and improving living conditions in the communities in which it operates.

About Hanesbrands Inc.
Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) is a leading manufacturer and socially responsible marketer of innerwear, activewear, socks and hosiery apparel under strong consumer brands, including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, Just My Size, barely there, Wonderbra and Gear for Sports. The company sells T-shirts, A-shirts, bras, panties, men’s underwear, children’s underwear, socks, hosiery, casualwear and activewear produced by the company’s low-cost global supply chain. Hanesbrands has nearly 53,000 employees in more than 25 countries around the world, and is proud of its strong reputation for corporate ethics and social responsibility. For more information about Hanes and its corporate social responsibility initiatives, including the company’s 2010, 2011 and 2012 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy ‘Star Partner of the Year’ Awards and its No. 150 ranking on Newsweek’s 500 greenest companies list, please visit www.hanesbrands.com.