Have Your Jeans Seen Better Days? Here's A Few New Ways To Bring Them Back From The Dead!

There's nothing like a perfectly worn pair of jeans that feel comfy and suit your body just right. People even pay big bucks for designer versions that are holy, beat up and battered in all the right places. Sometimes though, you reach a point where keeping them on life support is no longer practical, especially when they are hanging on by a thread. The Cotton From Blue to Green denim recycling program could be the answer to the perennial question of what to do with all of the dead jeans cluttering your closet. If you're not exactly crafty or feel that you just don't have the time to pick up scissors and turn your weathered denim pieces into new homemade accessories, then please read on.

Now until the end of June 2009, all donated jeans sent to Cotton From Blue To Green will be turned into household insulation manufactered under the name UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation. Five hundred pairs of jeans can be transformed into enough insulation for an average home, so the more you can donate the better. The material will be used to insulate homes that are located in areas affected by natural disasters (such as Hurricane Katrina) and to date over 180 homes have benefitted from this program. It doesn't matter what color or size or condition your denim donations are -- just mail them to this address:

National Geographic Kids / Set a Guinness World Record

P.O. Box 98001

Washington, D.C. 20090-8001 

Now, say that you're a slow poke and you just can't get all of your jeans together in time for the deadline mentioned above. What other options do you have? Well, the UK-based company RecycleYourJeans will turn an old pair of jeans into a new pair of earthy-looking sandals (kind of like Birkenstocks, but even greener).

Speaking of shoes, Levi's -- not to be outdone -- has spearheaded a new must have accessory for the fashionably green. Imagine what would happen if classic Converse high tops fell head over heels for a pair of denim jeans and had a love child. The result would be their new Red Tab Shoe Collection, which actually requires a minimum of two pairs of denim in order to capitalize on the most unique features (such as coin pockets, stitching, studs, etc.).

Now all you have to do is marry a native Aussie or Kiwi so that you, too, can score a pair of these neato kicks (since there is no official U.S. launch planned as of yet). Something tells me that Greenwalas will be inspired enough to tear apart their old Chuck Taylors and use them as a pattern for their sublimely repurposed Levi originals. How hard could that be? If anyone here takes the plunge, we want to hear all about your crafty experiment...and show us pix of your creation, too!