PRSSA Collects Jeans To Heat Homes
By Xuan Huynh
Lemke Ledger Staff
The recent efforts of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) helped insulated two houses in need of repair.
The UA chapter took part in collecting denim to be recycled into insulation for Cotton Incorporated’s “Cotton. From Blue to Green.”
The drive collected 910 pairs of blue jeans in October, exceeding expectations of PRSSA members. It takes about 500 pairs to insulate one house.
The UA chapter of the Public Relations Student
Society of America collected 910 pairs of blue jeans
in October as part of an effort to help heat homes
with recycled denim. — Photo provided
“We were hoping to collect enough to do one house, and we got way more than that,” PRSSA vice president Casey Woodard said.
Woodard, a senior from Mesquite, Texas, said that Cotton Incorporated contacted different chapters of PRSSA and asked who would be interested in serving such a cause.
“[Cotton Incorporated] tries to work with different schools every year, so we probably won’t do it again next year,” Woodard said.
All of the denim was sent to the California-based Allan Company, the largest independently owned recycling company in the Western United States, according to its Web site. From there, it was packed
into 1,000-pound bales and transported to JBM Fibers, which processed the denim and returned it to its original fiber state.
Cotton is turned into environmentally safe insulation through Bonded Logic Inc. The UltraTouch natural cotton fiber insulation is an environmentally safe, non-itch insulation made from natural fibers that offers exceptional acoustic and thermal performance with no carcinogenic warnings, formaldehyde or chemical irritants used, according to the Cotton Incorporated Web site.
The insulation was used in construction projects by Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina destruction.
Cotton Incorporated, which is supported by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton. Upland cotton is a type of plant cultivated in the South for its woolly lint. The program is designed and operated to improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.