Field Notes: Cleaner and Greener
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Cotton Inc. is ramping up its Blue Jeans Go Green denim recycling program with today’s launch of its first Denim Stack Challenge, a national awareness initiative in honor of America Recycles Day on Nov. 15.
Its #DenimStackChallenge encourages recycling by inviting U.S. consumers to inventory their own closets by snapping and sharing photos of their denim on social media that they’ll give “new life” by recycling them. And beginning Nov. 11 to 18, Cotton Inc. will display a denim stack pop-up art installation in New York at the Gregory Hotel, where consumers can drop off any type of denim in an on-site collection bin to contribute to its “honorary stack” — the denim will then be recycled into natural cotton fiber housing insulation that will help building efforts across the U.S. And Caravan Stylist Studio will cohost a pop-up shopping event at the installation, offering attendees that bring denim for recycling a $5 credit to shop the sale.
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“Authentic denim is made mostly from cotton, a sustainable fiber, and it can be broken down to its natural state and transformed into something new,” the firm explained. Andrea Samber, director, consumer marketing at Cotton Inc., said, “The Denim Stack Challenge is an interactive way to raise awareness of our program’s mission and inspire consumers across the country to support sustainable living through a simple, meaningful act. America Recycles Day is an ideal time to encourage people everywhere to participate in a movement for a greener world, also shining a light on natural textile recyclability. It’s important for everyone to know that the denim they buy is sustainable and can be recycled because it is made from cotton.”
And fiber firm PrimaLoft recently introduced PURE, a proprietary manufacturing technique that reduces carbon emissions by as much as 48 percent. PURE — an acronym for Produced Using Reduced Emissions — is part of the firm’s “Relentlessly Responsible” pledge to create sustainable products that live up to high-performance standards. In fall 2020, Patagonia will be the first brand to integrate the PURE manufacturing technology.
Its PURE solution has been used on PrimaLoft Gold Insulation, 100 percent post-consumer recycled material, without compromising insulation or performance benefits. Moreover, its process uses air instead of heat to cure and stabilize the insulation, thereby reducing emissions; traditionally, thermally bonded fibers were created through a slow, high-heat oven that was energy-intensive.
PrimaLoft president and chief executive officer Mike Joyce, said, “As experts in advanced material technologies, PrimaLoft’s commitment to responsibility drives our developments beyond the product level. Over the past four years, we have been working toward manufacturing solutions that will drastically reduce carbon emissions. The result is a brilliant shift in our process, that will make a significant impact for the environment.”
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