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tomorrow's news
GREEN JEANS
Back in the '80s, a pair of dyed green jeans might be exactly what you were looking for on a Saturday shopping spree. Today, the green theme is even more prevalent, but it doesn't rely on a dye job.
The universal clothing item is traditionally made of denim, which is made from cotton. Commercial cotton growers usually use large amounts of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. By using organic cotton or other fibers such as hemp, jeans can be more environmentally friendly. Some manufacturers of blue jeans have decided to surf the green wave and make their products not just eco-friendly, but eco-fabulous.
The organic clothing company Loomstate uses raw organic cotton yarn to create jeans both eco-conscious and body-conscious in styles for men and women. The jeans run between $150-$175 a pair. The Web site www.treehugger.com provides guys and girls with lists of styles and benefits for sustainable jeans from companies such as Mavi, Edun and Planet Earth Green Label. Levi's also put an organic twist on their classic jeans creating a line conveniently called "Levi's Eco". The jeans are 100 percent organic cotton and use recycled buttons, rivets and zippers. Prices fall anywhere between $68 to $245 a pair.
"With the growing awareness of environmental issues, it's becoming more important to do our part to help," says Amber McCallum, accounting executive at Mavi Jeans
USA."Young people are getting more involved with the environment, and we want to keep up. Organic denim definitely helps with the next steps towards saving the environment. Every little bit helps."
- Rebekah Scaperlanda
what it's like TO LANDSCAPE CAMPUS
Landscapers beautify campus throughout the year.
Bob Abbott works at the University of Kansas all year, but he's not a professor; administrator or any other member of the faculty. Abbott is a maintenance service supervisor, which means he works on landscaping our beloved campus.
Abbott leads a seven-person crew—one of four on campus. Abbott's crew focuses mainly on trees, but recently took care of pulling the dead tops off of all the irises decorating the Hill. It's one of several jobs that the 33 full-time and eight temporary staff members are responsible for handling.According to Mike Lang, director of Facilities Operations, crews are responsible for planting the 14,000 tulips used each year (along with a variety of other plants and flowers), providing upkeep for all of the plants and, most
importantly, picking up trash. Lang says most crew members will spend some part of every shift on garbage duty.
While gathering trash is a year-round project, a lot of jobs the maintenance crew is responsible for vary depending on the season and can be especially intense during bad weather. Lang credits his staff's quick response for the campus's usually swift rebound after a storm and says that, during the microburst in spring 2006, his crew was there, ready to work, without him having to call and ask them to come in. It's this dedication that makes KU one of the most beautiful campuses in the Midwest.
- Elise Stawarz
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06 03.13.2008
VOL.5 ISS.24
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interesting fact: In 2004, about 6,000 people a day used marijuana for the first time, which totals about 2.1 million Americans. -www.nida.nih.gov
contact the writer:
rscaperlanda@kansan.com
estawarz@kansan.com