There’s a lot that’s awesome about that fact, especially when you consider how wasteful the cap and gown tradition can be. This year, over two-hundred and fifty institutions of higher learning have adopted the recycled gowns made by Virginia-based Oak Hall Cap & Gown, according to a report from Green House at Yahoo! That, according to Oak Hall Cap & Gown president Donna Hodges is up sixty institutions for the purchase of the “GreenWeaver” gowns from last year.

Said Hodges, “It’s exceeded our expectations. We knew students are at the cutting edge of environmental consciousness and it had the potential to be important. We didn’t know how much.”

According to Hodges, it takes an average of twenty-three plastic bottles to make each cap and gown. That means that Oak Hall Cap & Gown is keeping an estimated seven million plastic bottles from clogging up landfills (though WHY are people still using plastic bottles?).

Though the recycled caps and gowns cost four to five dollars more than a polyester one, students have the option of dropping them off at a recycling bin where the cap and gown can be turned into another product. Also, we do not want to hear a single college kid complain about four or five dollars. That is the price of a pint of beer – or a pitcher at happy hour!

Oak Hall Cap & Gown first experimented with a more eco friendly mix of bamboo and polyester, but after fourteen months of testing decided that postconsumer plastic bottles (already used to make clothing such as sweatshirts) was a better idea. In addition to the gowns being eco friendly, Oak Hall Cap & Gown donates a quarter per gown to a campus sustainability program of the college’s choice.

Now that is a green business model that we like all the way around. And by the way, congratulations graduates!

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