Gildan Awarded a Distintivo® ESR 2018 Award for Its Environmental Activities in the Dominican Republic

May 18, 2018 3:30 PM ET

For the third consecutive year, Gildan has been recognized with a Distintivo ESR® 2018 award presented during the 11th Latin American Conference of Socially Responsible Companies.  The award is given to companies that meet designated standards in the strategic areas of corporate social responsibility. Gildan received the distinction this year for its CSR activities in the Dominican Republic.

Presented on May 15th by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (Cemefi) and the Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility (AliaRSE), the Distintivo award recognizes companies in Latin America which voluntarily and publicly undertake the commitment to implement socially responsible management and continuous improvement as part of their culture and business strategy.

One of Gildan’s main focuses in the Dominican Republic is the implementation of the Eco-Schools program, an international program of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that aims to empower students to lead change by engaging them in fun, action-orientated and socially responsible learning. Each school follows a seven step change process and empowers students to lead processes and actions wherever they can.

The Eco-Schools program in the Dominican Republic is implemented by IDARD - Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de República Dominicana, a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting environmental education and the implementation of good environmental practices. Gildan has been supporting the program since 2008 and currently sponsors nine schools in communities where it operates. 

In 2017, students, teachers and volunteers planted 67,591 trees and vegetable plants in the community and recycled 3,888 pounds of waste from their schools. Following these impressive results, the participating schools earned an international Green Flag from the UN, an internationally acknowledged symbol for environmental excellence.

Additionally in the Dominican Republic, during 2016-2017 Gildan implemented 11 volunteer activities such as tree planting, site cleanups, etc. that involved over 675 employees and their families contributing over 3,200 hours of their time.

You can discover the latest projects in Corporate Social Responsibility in the countries where Gildan operates by visiting www.genuinegildan.com