Turn Denim into Insulation - Part 1

If you are anything like me, you have been forcing your children to try on every piece of clothing they have to determine what still fits and what doesn't so the "School Shopping Fun" can begin.


My children's clothes always get sorted into 3 piles; still nice enough to wear, nice enough for others to wear, and not in good enough shape for anyone to wear.
This last pile is the one that I struggle with.
I can never bring myself to throw this pile away because it always seems like I should be able to "use" it for something.


A while back I learned of a program that recycles denim but they had stopped taking donations. I decided to look them up again to see if maybe they had started again. Sure enough, they had.


The Cotton From Blue to Green.® program is a grass roots program that takes denim donations and turns the material into insulation that is used for communities in need. Here is some information about the program:

The Cotton From Blue to Green.® denim drive is a call-to-action to donate denim and give it “new life” by converting it into UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation. The insulation is then provided to communities in need to assist with building efforts.  

The Cotton. From Blue to Green.® denim drive was first created in 2006 as part of Cotton Incorporated’s groundbreaking collegiate mobile marketing initiative Cotton's Dirty Laundry Tour®. The Cotton. From Blue to Green.® denim drive served as a grassroots student-run campaign to educate college coeds about the natural, renewable and recyclable attributes of denim.

In its first year, the Cotton. From Blue to Green.® denim drive doubled initial collection estimates — a total of 14,566 pieces of denim were collected nationwide. College students across the U.S. rallied their campuses and surrounding communities for donations. 

To date, the Cotton. From Blue to Green.® denim drive program has received over half a million pieces of denim. This results in approximately 1.5 million square feet of UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation to assist with building efforts for communities in need.

Since the start of the Cotton. From Blue to Green.® denim drive program in 2006, the insulation has been distributed to Habitat for Humanity affiliates around the country. 

What a wonderful way to keep those torn, worn-out, don't fit anymore jeans out of the landfill while, at the same time, helping those in need.

Now my "not good enough for anyone to wear" pile just got a little smaller!