After weeks of putting it off, this past Tuesday I decided to purchase my graduation cap and gown. $73 transformed itself into one semi-wrinkled black gown, one graduation hood alluding to my collegiality, and one black graduation cap (yellow tassel included, of course).
The wrinkles were one thing, the price tag was another. Both hardly satisfying. Both hardly believable.
The only redeeming factor of my purchase turned out to be a sign below the checkout reading something like: “Do not iron gown. Material is made from recycled plastic bottles. Will melt.” Initially rolling my eyes, I thought, “I just bought $73 worth of plastic?! AND I can’t iron out the wrinkles?” About two seconds later, my inner Darya said, “hey, it’s recycled material… So I guess it’s sustainable..”
Alas, I am here. I still have no doubt that I was overcharged for something that could have been provided free of charge, rented, or built into my tuition and fees; but, perhaps there is some good in this. That good lies in the plastic.
In the United States, according to the Earth Policy Institute, 29 billion plastic bottles are produced for use each year. Less than 30% of those plastic bottles are recycled. Manufacturing those 29 billion bottles requires the equivalent of 17 million barrels of crude oil.
In 2009, to combat the low plastic bottle recycling rate Oak Hall, a cap and gown company, introduced GreenWeaver® sustainable caps and gowns to higher education. 23 bottles make one gown. For every 10 gowns produced, 2,300 plastic bottles are diverted from landfills. Another perk, I can recycle my $73 gown after graduation.
However, $73 later, I think I’ll opt for reuse. No one else should have to shell out what I still consider to be too much at the end of an already expensive college career.
Written by Darya Nicol, Class of 2016