Spring graduates from
Lake Superior State University are going green in a whole new way--with their graduation gowns.
The traditional LSSU blue and gold colors are still there, but the gowns were made from recycled plastic bottles, which is definitely green. It took about 23 plastic bottles to make each gown, according to Amber McLean, manager of Barnes & Noble at LSSU. The bookstore handles cap and gown sales each year.
"We looked into this last year and talked to the student body about it," says McLean. "The gowns are made from a fabric spun from plastic pellets and the result is so comfortably soft that you have to feel it to believe it."
The gowns were made by a company called GreenWeaver, and sold through Oak Hall Cap and Gown of Salem, Virginia.
The bottles are processed, with labels, caps and other impurities removed from the plastic. After being chopped into light pieces called flakes, the plastic is melted and re-solidified into pellets, which then are melted once more and spun out into a yarn-like filament that can be woven, dyed and sewn.
And, naturally, the gowns themselves can be recycled when students are done with them--an improvement over hanging in the back of your closet for years, surely.
The plastic fabric is made of 100 percent post-consumer bottles, a 54 percent improvement on carbon emissions compared to manufacturing new polyester for graduation gowns.
The move was one of several actions taken to make the commencement ceremonies and campus itself more earth-friendly; for instance, live flowers, trees and shrubs are used as decoration rather than cut flowers for the graduation ceremonies. Then, the LSSU Physical Plant plants the plants on campus to provide long-term benefits.
Another green feature at the school is a vegetable garden in its fourth growing season in the center of the university campus.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Amber McLean, Lake Superior State University
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