HanesBrands’ Chief Sustainability Officer Offers Tips on Becoming a More Conscious Consumer Ahead of Earth Day
As Earth Day approaches, consumers are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint. In an effort to help them adopt sustainable practices to ensure a more healthy life and planet, Chris Fox, chief sustainability officer, HanesBrands Inc. provides the following tips:
- Wash your clothes in cold water. Washing clothes in cold water saves money and energy and makes the clothes last longer. Ninety percent of the energy used in hot water washing is to heat the water. Switching to cold significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions. It is a quick and easy way to reduce your carbon footprint while preserving your clothes' lifespan and save money! Hanes has teamed up with Tide to educate consumers about the benefits of washing their clothes in cold water as we work to create a healthier planet. To learn more, search the #TurnToCold hashtag on social media.
- Support brands that are committed to zero-waste and choose environmentally friendly products. At HanesBrands, we believe sustainability can and should be for every body, every day which is why we make about two-thirds of our clothing in facilities we operate, giving direct oversight of sustainable practices.
- Purchase from companies that are actively reducing single-use plastic. HanesBrands’ goal is to eliminate single-use plastics in our product packaging and reduce packaging weight by 25% by 2025.
- Change your mindset to align with that of a circular economy. In a circular economy, materials are either kept in use indefinitely, regenerated and remanufactured into new products, or made completely from natural, biodegradable materials. We see this as a huge environmental and business opportunity, which is why HanesBrands set a goal for each of our iconic brands to launch at least one fully circular product or initiative by 2025. In our efforts to use recycled materials at a much larger scale, we’ve partnered with yarn mills to manufacture reclaimed and recycled cotton, which delivers two key benefits – reducing the use of virgin cotton and minimizing manufactured waste.
- Look for companies that are implementing innovative ways to upcycle, the act of using waste in its current state to create something new. Earlier this year, Champion Australia partnered with HoMie to launch the Reborn collection which features one-of-a-kind garments all developed from recycled Champion garments. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the collection, which reduces textile waste, furthers HoMie’s mission of supporting youth affected by homelessness or other hardships.
- Buy from companies that focus holistically on sustainability. Anytime you purchase a Hanesbrands product, you can feel confident that product was created with people, planet and product in mind.
Sustainability can be affordable! Somewhere along the way a misconception was born that sustainable apparel must be “expensive.” HanesBrands continues to show that sustainability is an affordable, and highly impactful, option.
Sustainability is not new for HanesBrands, and the strides we’ve taken toward our goal of protecting people, planet and product have resulted in notable cost savings for our business and for our consumer, all while impacting millions of lives.
For more information on HanesBrands Inc. and their sustainability practices, visit https://hbisustains.com/.
About Chris Fox , Chief Sustainability Officer, Hanesbrands Inc.
Chris leads the HanesBrands global sustainability (ESG) efforts, which includes oversight of the company’s 2025/2030 sustainability goals designed to enhance Hanesbrands' role as a global sustainability leader across its three pillars of People, Planet and Product.
He is leading the intensive process to reach these goals, including:
- a commitment to improve the lives of at least ten million people over the next decade
- to set and achieve aggressive science-based targets to further reduce our greenhouse gas emissions
- to significantly reduce their packaging footprint and eliminate single-use plastics.
He also oversaw the development and launch of the HBISustains.com website that serves as HanesBrands primary sustainability/ESG reporting tool that includes in-depth information on its People, Planet and Product pillars, as well as its SASB and TCFD disclosures.
