Students milled around the numerous booths, excited chatter filled the air and occasional shrieks of joy rang out into the crisp September air. But amidst the carnival-like atmosphere, a much larger cause begged students to lend an ear. In a corner of Hornbake plaza, almost hidden and easy to overlook among the other brightly colored booths and games, a large bin stands, filled with blue jeans.
At least 200 pairs of jeans, which were donated by students during Wednesday’s event, will be recycled and reconstructed into cotton fiber insulation and donated to an elementary or middle school in Baton Rouge, La., damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The insulation will be used to rebuild the school and possibly add an additional wing to accommodate the influx of students returning to school after the disaster.
The collection was part of a nationwide denim drive incorporated into Cotton Incorporated’s second annual “Dirty Laundry Tour.”
Traditionally, the tour focuses on teaching independence and life skills to college students, but even a year after the fact, Hurricane Katrina victims still need help getting on their feet, organizers said.
“We wanted to show jeans can have another life and we definitely wanted to partake in the philanthropic aspect,” said Paula Rosario, vice president of retail and fashion marketing for Cotton Incorporated.
Cotton aims to collect 15,000 pairs of jeans, 500 from each of 14 campuses, and send them to a company called Bonded Logic. The company specializes in making environmentally friendly insulation with recycled materials and fewer chemicals than other insulation companies.
“The thermal properties are almost identical or slightly better, and are much better acoustically,” explained Sean Desmond, director of sales and marketing at Bonded Logic.
He said manufacturing the natural insulation takes only 20 percent of the energy required in manufacturing other types of non-recycled insulation.
When the jeans reach Bonded Logic, they are shredded and broken up into strands of cotton fibers. The company then treats the cotton fibers with a fire retardant and mixes the strands with a binder fiber to hold everything together. They are thermally bonded and passed through a large oven, then they are cut, packaged and sold.
To bring this tour to the university, Student Entertainment Events and student outreach group Beyond These Walls paired with Cotton, planned the event and advertised around the campus to make the day a success.
“I think it’s huge,” said Kirstin Cicale, president of Beyond These Walls.
“A lot of people just throw out their old jeans, but [students can help] make an elementary school.”
Contact reporter Patsy Morrow at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.
