“Actually this morning I had a box of jeans dropped off at my door,” Program Director Tiffany Hrdlicka said.
USD is one of eight schools collecting blue jeans for the “Cotton: From Blue to Green” initiative. Eventually, the blue jeans will be used in the construction of a Habitat for Humanity house on the Gulf Coast.
Once the jeans are collected they'll be broken down and shredded and turned into blocks of insulation. The insulation is 85 percent cotton, which makes it more environmentally friendly than traditional fiberglass.
Five hundred pairs of jeans are enough to insulate one house. But the response has been so good, Program Director Abby Buehler says she's not satisfied stopping there.
“I really hope we can go above and beyond 500,” Buehler said. “My goal would be to collect 700 pieces of denim.” Students have been collecting the jeans from bins around campus and at the local high school and area businesses. Buehler says she feels good helping the less fortunate.
“It's a really good chance to help out other people and it reaches farther than the Midwest,” Buehler said.
For more information, visit the Cotton: From Blue to Green website. USD will be collecting denim through the end of the month.
