What can people do with old jeans? Throw them away? Donate them? There never seemed to be a good solution, until now.
This fall, the denim-focused clothing store Madewell teamed up with Blue Jeans Go Green, a denim recycling trademark program by Cotton Incorporated, to give people a solution to this problem. The Denim Forever Tour has hit Madewell stores in many of the major cities in the United States, bringing with it an old-fashioned pickup truck full of jeans, live music, free wine and a $20 discount for customers who brought in their own denim to recycle. On Saturday, the tour concluded on Newbury Street’s Madewell store.
“Once the consumer recycles the denim, it gets upcycled into UltraTouch Denim Insulation,” said Kazzie Zerface, the former manager of consumer marketing of Cotton Incorporated, as she explained the program to customers who stopped by the store.
The insulation is then used for communities in need, such as New Orleans for the rebuilding of homes after Hurricane Katrina, she continued.
Blue Jeans Go Green has been collecting jeans since 2006, according to their website. Their goal is to not only divert denim from landfills, but also give back in a sustainable way. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, the United States generates an average of 25 billion pounds of textile waste a year, and only 15 percent of that waste gets donated or recycled.
Cotton Incorporated created this program to try to combat these staggering numbers while turning waste into useful insulation, according to the Blue Jeans Go Green website. They have collected over 1 million pieces of denim and manufactured more than 2 million square feet of insulation to date, according to the website.
“It’s just the cycle of something that was sitting in your closet going into a very good, community-based cause,” Zerface said.
The Denim Forever Tour was created as a way to collect even more denim, and it has been a huge success, Zerface said. Saturday’s stop at the Newbury Street Madewell was no exception, as the store was filled with people sipping complimentary wine, dancing to indie band Freedom Fry’s set and walking around with shopping bags full of new denim purchased with their earned discount.
“It’s not a typical tour for us,” said Bruce Driscoll, a member of the musical duo Freedom Fry, which played at each event of this tour. “It’s in a nice store at 5 p.m. and playing to a lot of people who maybe have never heard us before as they come through the store shopping.”
However, this was more than just a fun way to host a denim drive and see a free show. The Denim Forever Tour has helped spread awareness about the program.
“It’s been really good,” Zerface said. “There’s a lot of excitement that’s been generated. Something that’s important to Madewell and to Cotton Incorporated is spreading the awareness. A lot of people don’t know you can actually recycle denim.”
Awareness is key, Driscoll said. Because there is a number of other thrift stores people can donate to, many don’t know about Cotton Incorporated and Blue Jeans Go Green.
“I can’t think of how many times in my own life I’ve had clothes that didn’t fit me anymore that could have benefitted someone,” Driscoll said. “You hear so many stories about Goodwill and other companies. How do you know who to trust?”
Marie Seyrat, the other half of Freedom Fry, chimed in, expressing joy over knowing that they are contributing to a good cause.
“We actually recycled our own stuff too, and it feels great,” she said.
This rang true with Lindsay Talbot, 28, of Brighton, who said she had no idea she could recycle denim until she started working at J. Crew, another clothing company that partners with Blue Jeans Go Green.
“The whole housing insulation thing is not something you would usually associate with denim,” Talbot said.
Though the Denim Forever Tour has come to a close, Zerface will continue to encourage others to recycle their denim. Not only can people mail denim in to Blue Jeans Go Green year-round by following instructions on their website, but Madewell will also continue to collect old jeans and hand out $20 discounts through Dec. 31.
“It’s nice,” Talbot said. “You get to recycle your jeans you were planning on throwing out anyways and you get to feel good about yourself for shopping.”
