Sustainable gowns

As a college student, you’ve heard the frightening news: college enrollment is up all over the country. There are more students and therefore more graduates. The master’s degree is the new bachelor’s degree. In light of all this hubbub, there is one thing that can ease your mind about the scary other side, and that is the fact that graduation apparel has gone eco-friendly.

A growing concern over the typical “use-once-and-destroy” graduation gown slowly polluting the Earth has become more evident as enrollment increases. Two companies that produce the gowns, Jostens and University Cap and Gown, have realized the concern, and as of last year, the companies produce gowns that are biodegradable.

The gowns made before last year are constructed from polyester, a fiber with a petroleum base. Polyester doesn’t break down naturally, so disposal options are to either throw it away and leave it in a landfill for a millennia, or burn it and release highly toxic fumes into their air. 

The newer recyclable gowns are made from two different sustainable materials: recycled plastic bottles or plant-based acetate.

They’re thinner and breath easier than the old polyester model. And if your graduation commencement is a particularly frightful ordeal, you can bury your gown without fear of causing harm to Mother Earth.

Even though a large number of students graduate from college every year, only a handful of schools have opted for the biodegradable gown option, instead favoring the polyester option.

Portland State is one such school to order the eco-friendly gowns.

Jostens includes an interesting bonus in their graduation attire: Each cap contains a code, which when entered online, donates a dollar to an “environmental cause.”

The acetate gowns are available in several colors, whereas the plastic-bottle gowns are available only in black.  ?