Southwest Farm Press, KS
05-09-07
College students donate denim to help rebuild Louisiana communities
Our nation's youth and future leaders of tomorrow are showing they are willing to
take part in efforts to preserve the environment - especially when it comes to
cotton! On five college campuses last month - University of South Carolina,
University of Delaware, Illinois State University, Iowa State University and the
University of Oregon, students eagerly donated old articles of their denim
clothing that are now in the process of being converted into natural cotton fiber
insulation, thanks to Cotton Incorporated.
The event, called Cotton. From Blue to Green.(tm), began as an event added on
to Cotton's Dirty Laundry Tour(tm) (CDLT) - Cotton Incorporated's interactive
mobile marketing tour - in the fall of 2006 to help raise the awareness in the
college demographic that cotton is a sustainable product. However, the level of
excitement generated among students showed Cotton Incorporated's marketing
staff there was more to it than first appeared.
Students participating in the denim drive as part of the 2006 CDLT donated an
astounding 13,566 pieces of denim, doubling the drive's original goal. "When
reports started coming in from each tour stop about how much denim was being
donated and we began totaling numbers, it was evident the college students
were becoming emotionally attached to the 'cause' behind the drive - to help
people in Louisiana," says Cotton Incorporated's Vice President, Consumer
Marketing - Strategic Alliances, Paula Rosario.
The denim drive will continue this fall as a stand-alone event at additional
universities across the U.S. and will be facilitated by each university's local Public
Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter.
Once the denim is collected, JBM Fibers (Brownsville, TX), a leading
manufacturer of reprocessed fiber, will process the collected denim and return it
to its natural fiber state - cotton - for the manufacturing of the insulation. From
there, Bonded Logic, Inc., the leading manufacturer in natural cotton fiber
insulation, will convert the material into UltraTouch(tm) Natural Cotton Fiber
Insulation, an environmentally safe, non-itch insulation made from natural fibers
that offers exceptional acoustic and thermal performance with no carcinogenics,
formaldehyde or chemical irritants used. The finished insulation product will be
used to help in the construction efforts to rebuild Louisiana communities affected
by Hurricane Katrina.
"Cotton. From Blue to Green. provides a pro-social connection for college
students to interact with cotton and generate awareness about its sustainability
and ability to be reused," adds Rosario, "and we are really pleased with its
success."
To learn more about the event, visit www.accesscotton.com - the official Cotton.
From Blue to Green. Web site.