Cotton Inc.’s ‘Every Piece Pledge’ Aims to Reduce Textile Waste
As part of an Earth Day cotton crusade, Cotton Incorporated is running a campaign to tackle textile waste.
Beginning April 22, Cotton Incorporated’s Blue Jeans Go Green program runs its “Every Piece Pledge,” asking shoppers to pledge to recycle every pair of jeans at the end of a pair’s life cycle. Since the inception of the program 16 years ago, Cotton Incorporated has collected more than 4.2 million pieces of denim, continuing its commitment to reduce textile waste. Collectively, that’s more than 1,950 tons rescued from landfill.
To take the pledge, shoppers can simply visit the Blue Jeans Go Green program website and see instructions for how to donate their denim goods. From there, shoppers can ship off denim by mail using their Zappos or Amazon account to print a prepaid label to be used at any U.S. UPS store location. The only stipulations are that the denim must be at least 90 percent cotton (and free of hangers, stickers or plastic attached).
“Knowing that we’re making a difference together to reduce textile waste by recycling authentic denim is truly rewarding,” said Andrea Samber, director of brand partnerships at Cotton Incorporated. “Cotton’s Every Piece Pledge is designed to inspire shoppers to continue that commitment to recycling every pair of jeans at the end of its life cycle.”
Brands like American Eagle, Frank and Oak, Madewell, PacSun and more participate in in-store denim drop-offs either year-round or seasonally. After their useful denim life, the donated materials find their way through various recycling partners into insulation for building efforts, pet bed inserts and thermal insulation (as in sustainable food or pharmaceutical packaging), and the like.
