Excerpt from ReNews Volume III #2 Feb/March/April, 1998

Last summer when we got the jeans pencils, it was amazing to see how well they were accepted, selling at a rate twice as fast as the paper money pencil.  This made me wonder a lot.

The fact that they were made of fabric and a common thread were the clues.  In earlier days we all had much in common.  If you ran into President Washington or Ben Franklin you could talk of farming or care of animals.  We now seldom have that universal connection; when it appears it needs to be acted upon.

To many, jeans are our "common thread."  They are a microcosm of our society, the web holding things together, some produced organically, some grown to some naturally dyed, some even grown to color using old strains, connecting to past times.  Our current common thread - perhaps in the future it will be hemp or another we have yet to remember.  Taking these used threads, making new products from old, with the goal of generating no waste products, while powering equipment from renewable resources.  Out goal - to connect and empower displaced resources, (people and materials) each helping the other to be revealed.

Over the next few months there will be prototypes of new (old) denim products.  We’ve also experimented with making denim paper and have talked with Camp Hill Village about selling a denim rug they make on a loom.

If the common thread can be used to connect, it can help bring walls down.  Who knows where this may lead?  If the web of our lives does then connect and unite, the possibilities are enormous. You know we're no longer dealing with how to get rid of a recyclable, we're now talking about how to build community.  The flow of the common thread - just think of what can be done.  Stay tuned.  I'm sure much more will happen with this!