(Note: The following was written by John Pumilio, director of sustainability at Colgate.)
When Carly Keller ’13, Sarah Vondracek ’13, and Sarah Cochran ’14 enrolled in Community-Based Study on Environmental Issues (ENST 390) with Professor Christopher Henke during the fall of 2012, they devised a strategy to move Colgate toward a zero-waste commencement.
They began by exploring Colgate’s current practices and comparing them to the best practices of other institutions. Keller, Vondracek, and Cochran identified numerous opportunities to immediately reduce waste during commencement — digital informational packets, a commencement app, invitations, schedules, and tickets.
They explored options for reducing food waste, packaging, and bottled water. They also proposed increasing the number of recycling and composting stations to reduce landfill waste. They also had some “out-there” ideas like using material from recycled bottles to create graduation gowns.
While some of their ideas are still in the works, they were excited to learn that purchasing graduation gowns made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled bottles is happening at this year’s commencement.
The students worked with commencement coordinator Michele Carney, who said because the company that manufactures the gowns does not charge any shipping, “The greener option will actually save the university money.”
Going green while saving institutional dollars is a recurring theme of many of the university’s sustainability initiatives.
According to GreenWeaver, the maker of the gowns, each gown is made from 23 plastic bottles reclaimed from landfills. For this year’s commencement ceremony, over 17,000 plastic bottles have been salvaged to provide gowns.
Along with the savings to Colgate, reusing bottles means reducing landfill waste and the toxins from decaying bottles. While most students like to keep their gowns in memory of this special occasion, they can also be returned at the end of the ceremony and recycled into new gowns.
Colgate appreciates how a classroom assignment by Keller, Vondracek and Cochran turned into a savings for the university – and a savings for the environment. The work continues, and we look forward to building off of this in future commencement ceremonies at Colgate University.