Every spring, thousands of students across the country proudly don their newly purchased caps and gowns for graduation. Afterwards, however, these outfits get thrown away or stuffed into a closet for years. Due to the tremendous amount of waste produced, different initiatives have begun popping up to recycle used graduation attire.
For example, Herf Jones launched a program called the Renew Gown Recycling Program. They produce caps and gowns out of 100% recycled material and then station recycling bins around campus to collect the gowns once graduation is over. While the gowns are recycled, students keep the caps and tassels to commemorate their academic accomplishments.
Here at the University of Rochester, there is currently no program in place to recycle caps and gowns or sell them back to the bookstore. Nevertheless, what you can do is sell them to younger friends who can use them next year, which saves you money and reduces waste as well.
Written by Abigail Fagan, class of 2014.
Photo Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_regalia_of_Harvard_University