It’s that time of year again – Earth Day – a time to think about being the best

“Eco” Erek Hansen is once again collecting denim items to be recycled into UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation which will be donated to communities affected by natural disasters. It takes approximately 500 denim items to insulate one average size home. (Photo courtesy of Amy Hansen)

stewards of our planet that we can be.

Once again, Earth Day is getting “Eco” Erek Hansen feeling “blue” – denim blue, that is.

Press readers may remember the 9-year-old Curtice youth and the mountain of denim he collected last year, inspired by an article in his “National Geographic Kids” magazine about a denim drive, with the fabric collected to be recycled into insulation that would be donated to communities affected by natural disasters.

As an added incentive, the magazine was attempting to set a Guinness World Record for the largest collection of clothing to recycle – a goal it ultimately achieved.

Eager to participate, Erek asked his parents if he could send in his ripped, holey jeans to the denim drive. Then he thought, why stop at just one or two pairs?

With his family’s support, he put out a call for donations, which he collected in conjunction with a garage sale at his Teachout Road home. “The garage sale really took a back seat to the collection,” Erek’s mom, Amy, speculated. Family, friends and the community responded, donating almost 1,700 pairs of pants.

The nationwide drive brought in 33,088 items of clothing, including jeans, shirts, jackets and hats, which were displayed in a massive art installation at Union Station, Washington, D.C., last August.

For his outstanding efforts, Erek, who amassed the single largest collection sent from one person, was invited to attend the ceremony.

All of the collected denim was donated to Cotton Incorporated’s “Cotton. From Blue to Green” denim drive program, which gives denim a second life by recycling it into UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation. The insulation is used in the restoration or construction of homes damaged by hurricanes, tornadoes and other national disasters.

“The people that he met, the discussions we had and the stories that we shared provided so much energy to this project,” Amy said. “It’s been a great thing.”

So this year, Erek is conducting the effort again, working directly with “Cotton. From Blue to Green.”

“If Northwest Ohio responds to this drive the way I think it can, who knows, he may break the Guinness World Record set last year which is 33,088 items of denim to be recycled,” Amy said.

Erek will kick off the drive April 22. He now has a Web site, www.ecoerek.org, at which he’ll post updates and photos.

This year, the drive will be held at multiple locations and will wrap up at the Hansen home, just like last year. The schedule includes:

• April 24, 1 to 4 p.m., Wal-Mart, Navarre Ave., Oregon;

• May 1, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Owens Community College Audio Visual Center, Perrysburg (Erek will be there from 1 to 4 p.m.);

• May 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Kroger, Navarre Avenue, Oregon;

• June 4 and 5, noon to 6 p.m., Town Center at Levis Commons, Perrysburg (in front of the cinemas);

• April 22 through June 15, Dr. Stephen Branam’s Dental Office, 3140 Dustin Rd., Oregon, (drop box available during office hours) and Once Upon a Child, 194 E. South Boundary St., Perrysburg (drop box during store hours, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.).

• June 11 and 12, in the driveway at the Hansen home, 315 N. Teachout Rd., Curtice.

Everything denim in any color will be accepted – including shorts, shirts, hats, pillows, tablecloths, overalls, etc. The denim must have been worn by a human (no doll or pet clothes) and the denim can be of any size, shape, color or brand.

Once again, First Solar will sponsor the shipping of the denim to its destination. “Without this key piece, this project wouldn’t be able to be done without Erek raising money for shipping,” Amy said. “Erek collected 1,684 items last year, and it weighed 2,815 pounds. That’s some heavy donation.”

Anyone interested in holding a denim drive to support Erek’s efforts may e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or just drop off the collected items to any one of our drive locations.

Learn more about the denim-recycling process at www.CottonFromBlueToGreen.org.

“Eco” Erek Hansen is once again collecting denim items to be recycled into UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation which will be donated to communities affected by natural disasters. It takes approximately 500 denim items to insulate one average size home. (Photo courtesy of Amy Hansen)