The excitement of innovative research and teaching projects becomes palpable while listening to Jana Hawley describe her work. As an assistant professor in the Textile and Apparel Management (TAM) department at MU, Hawley manages several ongoing projects related to electronic commerce, yet the initiatives she is most passionate talking about involve aspects of textile recycling. Hawley has been looking at clothing at numerous levels of "the discard stage," that is, clothing that people have thrown away as unwanted items.

Hawley describes facets of her textile recycling projects.

Savvy Seconds, the used clothing store that opened in December 2004 in Boonville, where adults with disabilities gain valuable life skills and work training experience while putting discarded clothing to good use.

More on Hawley's used clothing store.