MC Club Says Your Old Blue Jeans Can Help Save the Environment
Montgomery College’s Climate Action Now (CAN) Club is raising environmental awareness by bringing new life to worn-out jeans, jackets, and skirts previously destined for overcrowded landfills by hosting a denim drive.
CAN俱乐部位于罗克维尔校区，从2021年11月到今年2月，连续第二年举办了这项活动。该俱乐部旨在通过完成“绿色”社区服务和教育公众可持续发展的习惯，提高人们对环境问题的认识和改善人们生活的环境质量。
With this in mind, Teresa Doley, MC student and club president, researched projects that would align with the CAN Club mission. Club members unanimously agreed the Blue Jeans Go Green program offered sustainable ways to deal with waste that would appeal to the MC community. According to national statistics, approximately 450 million pairs of jeans are purchased each year in the US.
“I wanted to incorporate a way for students to actually make an impact on the environment so they are not just coming to meetings to talk about things,” Doley said.
In her research, Doley discovered Blue Jeans Go Green helps collect and recycle old denim for new use in different manufactured products, such as building insulation. Approximately 500 pairs of jeans will insulate one home; 1,333 pairs will divert one ton of waste from a landfill.
The Climate Action Now Club launched its first Denim Drive in on National America Recycles Day. Doley led the initiative to partner with local thrift stores to gather and repurpose the unsold jeans. It now has working relationships with Planet Aid, Urban Thrift, Prime Thrift Laurel, and various Uniques and Value Villages, which have all contributed large numbers of denim garments to the club’s recycling drives.
虽然在新冠肺炎疫情期间以虚拟方式进行了第一次活动，但最终筹集了近1000件牛仔裤，超过了成立第一年(2021年)筹集500件的目标。根据今年社区的反应，该俱乐部为其2022年牛仔装活动制定了另一个雄心勃勃的目标。多利说，明年他们希望收集5000件牛仔布。
The club is currently holding a book drive that will deliver donated books to Turning Page, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. The drive will run until the end of this spring semester. To donate, contactteadoley@gmail.comormcclimateactionnow@gmail.com. “We collected about 2,000 books for them last year, and we are hoping to get 5,000 this year,” Doley said.
Members of the Climate Action Now Club counting the denim collected through community donations.
“By completing this green community service project,” Doley said, “we’re one step closer to a better environment for all.” She thinks of it as a lifestyle: “You are actively looking for ways to reduce the amount of waste you’re producing. It’s not only just about recycling; it’s about reusing or repurposing.”
Doley, who has led the club for the past two years, is graduating from Montgomery College this spring.
“It’s great to be able to recycle these products,” said Noa Nissim Kobliner, a Montgomery College freshman who helped pick up bags of donated jeans from the various thrift stores. “I am proud to have been able to make a difference and avoid having these jeans be thrown into landfills. I look forward to next year's drive.”