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Recycled Denim: Bust Out the Scissors

It’s Earth Week, which means I should be plugging pleather handbags and shoes or something. Um, no. If I ever have $665 to drop on Stella McCartney platform sandals, they better be buttery, soft, expertly-constructed shoes from something that once mooed. However, I do strictly adhere to recycling where denim is concerned. This doesn’t mean I buy organic cotton Levi’s. It means that when warm weather hits, I bust out the scissors and recycle my least-worn jeans into shorts. I actually really like the cut of these J Brand cut-offs; they’re a refreshing, laid-back departure from the Daisy Dukes of summer. They’ve also got that never nude thing going on.

Paying $141 for these shorts is an example of the most irresponsible, reprehensible, toxic kind of waste: The waste of money. Denim is only a worthy splurge when it covers more than your upper-thigh area. This style can and will be inflicted upon my three-year-old pair of Sevens, and for the grand total of nothing dollars, I’ll have a new pair of shorts. Who says I’m not a conservationist?