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by JUSTIN HERBERGER
News Reporter
This December’s commencement ceremonies will feature more than the traditional regalia of black and gold. For the first time this year, graduates will “go green” and wear environmentally friendly black graduation gowns.
University Bookstore buyer Amy P. Carson said the bookstore made the switch because the new gowns purchased from Jostens are a reasonable way to contribute to the university’s environmental goals.
Both bachelor’s and master’s graduates will wear gowns from Jostens’ “The Elements Collection.”
“We felt like the
university is working towards creating a sustainable environment and
what better way than to bring in a product that fell into those
guidelines,” she said.
The
price difference between this year’s graduation regalia and last year’s
is less than $3, Carson said, but the quality has been significantly
improved.
“It’s
definitely worth the $3 more,” senior psychology major Nancy N. Solana
said. “Personally, it’s not an issue for me that [the gown] is more
expensive, because I recycle and it really bothers me when I see other
people throwing away recyclable things into trash.”
Everything
from the fabric making up the gown, to the zipper and the plastic
packaging, was designed to decompose quickly in a landfill.
The
gown’s cloth is made from fibers from renewable, managed forests and is
proven to decompose in soil, according to manufacturer Jostens.
“The students that have picked the gowns up have been very accepting of the new product and are excited,” Carson said.
Appalachian
joins University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as one of the few
universities in the state to graduate its seniors in environmentally
responsible graduate regalia.
“The
fact that Appalachian is one of the first schools in the state to do it
doesn’t surprise me, because we have been so forward with using wind
energy and solar energy… I’m impressed and proud to be a part of that,”
Solana said.
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