BLUE JEANS GO GREEN: COTTON INC’S CAMPAIGN TO MAKE DENIM CIRCULAR
By: Hillary LeBlanc
Denim jeans have been declared as one of the most polluting garments to create. One CBC article cites the UN as saying it takes 7500 litres of water to make a single pair of jeans. Furthermore, the dyeing of the cotton often requires toxic chemicals that are occasionally dumped into the waterways if developing countries, and the cotton used in fast fashion jeans can be genetically modified. The process of distressing jeans to match current trends also endangers workers as the fumes they inhale and toxic dyes touched all harm staff. There is an estimated one billion pairs of jeans produced every year, so how can this specific contribution to the climate crisis be tackled? Cotton Incorporated thinks they have the answers with their recycling program: Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green.
Cotton Incorporated was founded in 1970 to support the global cotton industry and aims to increase the demand for and profitability of cotton. They also aim to advance cotton through research, textile innovation and sustainable advancements in creating cotton, finding new uses for it and cotton byproducts to reduce cotton’s impact and carbon footprint. Cotton Incorporated established Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green in 2006. It currently aims to recycle cotton and encourage the circularity of jeans. Once you’ve recycled your first piece of denim they encourage participants to take a pledge that they will continue to recycle clothes and participate in sustainable fashion. Once they’ve signed the pledge they also can receive tips and updates on ways to continue to foster a sustainable lifestyle.
Credit: Sze Yin Chan @opianista
Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green has partnered with Zappos for Good to allow those willing to recycle the garments to mail them for free. Once you’ve acquired a box from Zappos for Good, participants can mail off their jeans after ensuring it is at least 90% cotton and having removed any tags, stickers or plastic on the jeans. 2630 tons of denim have been diverted from landfills so far and there have been 5200000 pieces of denim recycled. Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green have also encouraged the community to get involved through t-shirt design campaigns, encourage recycling through programs in partnership with schools, social media challenges and partnering with Live Nation to have ambassadors on-site at four major concerts around America.
One of the more innovative ways Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green is reimagining the life of denim is by creating insulation with Bonded Logic Inc. For 15 years Cotton Incorporated has turned old denim into building insulation, packaging insulation, pet bed inserts and more. They also help build homes with Habitat for Humanity and have impacted communities in 18 American states!
Through their social media, Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green has used hip and trendy means to encourage sustainability. Outside of the predictable posts showing the benefits of recycling denim, they have also partnered with various influencers and stylists to show why one may need to recycle their jeans or cool ways to style denim with the latest trends. From rolling jeans around your waist that might be too baggy, to figuring out if it’s too low or high rise, the stylists and influencers they’ve approached have a fun way of making recycling engaging to those on Instagram.
As more organisations and champions of textiles have to grapple with the realities that the textile industry is harming the planet so drastically, recycle campaigns, with simple mailing instructions, fun collaborative partners and influencers may be the best way to fix the bad press around textiles. Cotton Incorporated has found a way to pivot from jeans being the most polluting garment to create, to reminding people that jeans were built to last so recycling and repurposing denim should have always been part of the purchasers journey.