Denim drive turns blue into green

PLAINVIEW, Neb. — Shelby Kocian didn’t realize a shopping trip for a pair of jeans would turn into a recycling project.

But the Plainview High School student discovered how to turn blue to green and convinced members of her Introduction to Human Services and Resources class to stage a denim drive.

Kocian was shopping at the local Vanity store in the Sunset Plaza in Norfolk when the salesperson told her about a special promotion: donate a pair of jeans and receive a 25 percent discount.

“My sister and I participated and got two pairs of jeans for a decent price,” Kocian said.

At home, Kocian investigated the Vanity promotion and discovered it was part of Cotton Inc.’s From Blue to Green initiative. The program’s goal was for each Vanity retailer to collect 500 pairs of denim that will be turned into denim insulation.

The Plainview class, instructed by Ronita Jacobsen, decided the project would give the group a way to help others. “It was a great lesson in problem-solving and goal setting,” said Morgan Brozek.

Collection boxes were set up in several Plainview businesses and at school. To promote the denim drive, the class produced flyers. The three-week drive netted 300 pairs of jeans, as well as additional bags filled with scrap denim left over from quilting projects. “The room looked like a jean depot,” Jacobsen said.

Donations came from as far away as O’Neill, Atkinson and Ewing, as well as the Brunswick and Creighton communities.

The process of turning a pair of jeans into post-industrial recycled denim begins by removing zippers, buttons, hardware, and embellishments. The denim is processed and shredded, returning it to its natural state, cotton.

Reprocessed fibers are treated with a solution comprised of borate, making the cotton fire retardant and mold and mildew resistant. The fibers are blended with a binder fiber, which go through a thermal bonding process to form a solid piece of insulation.

Any pieces not meeting quality control are reshredded and go through the process again. It’s a zero-waste manufacturing process that reduces landfill waste by 200 tons per month.

Amber King, manager of Norfolk’s Vanity store, said her store was half-way to its goal when the Plainview class propelled them to the 500 pairs mark.

“That’s enough to insulate one home,” King said.

This is the first year the store has participated in the project. King said Vanity stores across the nation collected 105,000 pairs of jeans.

Since the program’s inception in 2006, the collected denim has been used to insulate 180 new Habitat for Humanity homes in the Gulf Coast region.

Brozek said the project’s success says a lot about small town living and the benefits of goal setting, even if the direct benefit is used a thousand miles away.

“Everyone cares and pitches in to help,” Brozek said.

« Metro/Region

Share