Tattered jeans with holes, tears and wears can be found in pricey high-end boutiques, but some jeans become a bit too worn out to make a fashion statement. These can be donated to become insulation for homes devastated by Hurricanes Gustav and Katrina.

The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at the UW is joining a national denim drive campaign, collecting denim to benefit the building of environmentally safe insulation for homes. The drive will run through Nov. 15 and takes any type of denim ­— jeans, jackets and decorated scraps — in five collection locations througout campus.

“This year, the denim will be donated to Cotton Incorporated and go to homes that are in need,” said Faith Yi, PRSSA vice president of communications. Yi is also a marketing reprentative at The Daily.

In previous years, the donated denim was used by Habitat for Humanity to build homes for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

So far, UW’s PRSSA has topped 500 pieces of denim after donations from a thrift store. PRSSA’s goal is to collect 1,000 pieces of denim by the end of the drive.

“Most [students] are willing to donate since we’re willing to take things with holes,” Yi said. “Those jeans you can’t really sell to a second hand store.”

Denim is a 100 percent cotton material and is a natural and recyclable fiber. The donated denim gets broken down and processed to produce natural cotton fiber insulation. This cotton insulation material contains no chemical irritants, making it safe for both people and the environment.

Five hundred pairs of jeans produce 1,650 square feet of insulation material, enough insulation for one home. According to Cotton Incorporated, more than 100 homes have been built in the Gulf Coast Region using the natural cotton fiber.

This is UW PRSSA’s first year sponsoring the drive, joining five other university PRSSA chapters around the nation in participating in the campaign.

“If there’s success this year, then there’s a good chance we’ll do this next year,” Yi said.

PRSSA will be tabling several more times in the next few weeks in Red Square or the HUB lawn, offering T-shirt and sticker giveaways as part of their prize-wheel.

Cotton Incorporated will donate $500 to UW PRSSA for the collection of 500 pieces of denim and a $250 bonus for a collection exceeding 500 pieces. The money will help fund the organization as well as send students to national conferences. The UW chapter of PRSSA has more than 70 members and is the most active chapter in Washington State.

“This is a very industrious chapter,” academic advisor to UW PRSSA Kathleen Fearn-Banks said. “I’m very pleased to see their efforts. They’re a very energetic group of students.”

Reach reporter Emily Lee at news@dailyuw.com.