Nine-time Grammy Award-Winner Sheryl Crow Supports Blue Jeans Go Green™
A New Orleans Habitat for Humanity Build-A-Thon to Commemorate Hurricane Katrina
PR Newswire, NEW YORK, NY, May 28, 2015 – Grammy Award-Winner Sheryl Crow visited New Orleans East on Thursday, May 21 to support a New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity Build-A-Thon with Cotton Incorporated’s Blue Jeans Go Green™ denim recycling program. The Build-A-Thon, taking place on America Street, kicked off on May 20 and is set to build ten homes in ten days. All homes built during the Build-A-Thon will be insulated with UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation made from recycled denim.
Last month on behalf of the Blue Jeans Go Green™ denim recycling program, Crow called for consumers to recycle their unwanted denim to help rebuild New Orleans, an area still feeling the repercussions of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The Blue Jeans Go Green™ program reached their collection goal of 10,000 pieces of denim before the build, with denim coming through drop-offs at Madewell stores, a denim drive at Mississippi State University’s annual Cotton Summit, and mail-ins from people from all over the country. The collected denim was transformed into UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation by manufacturing partner Bonded Logic, Inc., and volunteers will outfit the homes with the insulation during the build.
Over the past 40 years, U.S. cotton growers have reduced pesticide applications by 50%, reduced irrigation water applications by 40%, and have grown twice as much cotton on 30% less acreage. The Blue Jeans Go Green™ initiative brings the environmental gains of U.S. cotton growers full circle, as the upcycling of unwanted denim diverts it from landfills. Since its inception, the program has collected over one million pieces of denim, keeping 600 tons of textile waste from landfills.
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According to Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey, almost 9 in 10 consumers try to do something with their jeans when they no longer plan to wear them, including donating them (44%), giving them away (13%), and repurposing them (10%). The average consumer owns seven pairs of jeans, so there is a lot of potential continued success for the program in the future. “Giving just one of them to the recycling drive can make a big difference in a family’s life,” said Andrea Samber, co-director of Strategic Alliances at Cotton Incorporated.
Since 2006, the Cotton Incorporated Blue Jeans Go Green™ program has helped rebuild communities by providing hundreds of thousands of square feet of UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation to Habitat for Humanity affiliates around the country. The program has a long history with New Orleans, first participating in a Habitat for Humanity build in the area in 2007. Information on where to recycle denim through Blue Jeans Go Green™ program can be found at www.bluejeansgogreen.org.
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About New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity
The New Orleans Area chapter of Habitat for Humanity has been active since 1983. Its mission is: to build homes in partnership with sponsors, volunteers, communities, and homeowner families, whereby families are empowered to transform their own lives; and to eliminate substandard housing in the New Orleans area while serving as a catalyst to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.
About Bonded Logic
With more than 35 years of insulation experience, Bonded Logic Inc. markets and manufactures a wide range of thermal and acoustical insulation products for multiple industries. Based in Chandler, Arizona, Bonded Logic offers a superior performing natural fiber product to meet every insulation need, while keeping consumers and the environment safe and healthy. The company is best known for its UltraTouch™ Denim Insulation sourced entirely of post-consumer blue jeans and is free of harsh chemicals.
About Cotton Incorporated
Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. cotton producers and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, conducts worldwide research and promotion activities to increase the demand for and profitability of cotton.
CONTACT
Sarah Oldfield
212-413-8350
[email protected]