Graduate Green: Alternatives to Traditional Graduation Caps and Gowns

Your senior year is the gateway to life. How do you want to live it? Consume everything, save nothing, toss and replace always, or save the planet? Take your pick. However you look at it, the environment is our life. Without trees, water, air, and even dirt; no one could make it to there first breath. So while everyone is gearing up to spend more money than necessary on things that will fade and end up in our landfills, our eco-system tries to survive. Before you buy into the market for graduation , think about how you can have a green graduation from the announcements to the cap and gown. Then talk to your classmates and take a stand for the environment and have a green graduation. Your first grown-up choices can shape the future of your life and humanities existence. We have to start somewhere.

For you, it's the invitations. Forget spending hundreds on those fancy embellished cards everyone looses. Make your own out of construction paper. Not only can you personalize the cards to the individual but you can get more creative and use less paper. If your cut the paper into fours you could make a simple card that has name, date of graduation, place, and time; with little effort. Throw your picture in the envelope and viola! With way less money, time, and energy, you have master sparing the garbage man at least a ton of garbage from throw away invites. Go the extra mile, send along a self addressed stamped envelope and ask that anyone not attending write their name on the card you sent and send it back. Then take all of the paper your receive back , flip over the invite and write your thank you note. Also, ask those attending to omit sending a card just present gifts or congrats at graduation. This way those attending can keep the invitation to get there and those not attending do not waste any money or resources on a card you'll never keep. More than likely you'll forget who sent what anyway.

Now that you've taken the first steps toward a green graduation; get your class involved. Get the school behind you. Hold graduation during the day, early enough to not need any lighting. Consider buying cotton shirts, in place of the traditional gown, in your school colors. Not only will this be more comfortable, the shirts can be reused, which saves on money and waste. If you simple must have the gown, make them from old white sheets or make the school purchase gowns which can be worn over an over in which they would keep for consecutive years. Caps are another issue. Consider using cotton baseball caps to place your tassel on. If that is a no go, ten consider framing your hat and tassel with a graduation picture. Anything you can do to keep it from finding it's way into the garbage. Ask the whole class, to help keep the environmental impact down. You aren't the only grad and with a group effort a difference can be made.

After the graduation ceremony, you can continue your green adventure. Have your party outside. Instead of making a big production out of it. Enjoy the start of life outside of school in nature. Why not ? You'll be spending the next years of you life wishing you could be outside anyway. Use paper plates, solar lights, and buy organic treats. Place different trash cans for different things outside and make a point of putting things into the right cans. This will allow you to recycle the paper and cans, compost the food waste, and trash very little if any. Not only can the decrease the amount going to the landfill, certain recyclables can earn you a bit of change.

There are many choices one can make to lessen their environmental impact. Your gift requests can be less materialist and more sensible such as cash or a tree. Cash not only gives you the freedom to get what you want; it can also be used wisely. It can be donated to charitable cause such as The Nature Conservary. This organization uses it's time in protecting the forest and the ecosystems inside them. Why not make the best use of your money by protecting our biggest investment for the future. If you don't think you could spend the case wisely ask for trees. Planting trees not only provides much needed air filtration they also create shade. Planting trees can be the first step toward reversing global warming. Other measure need to be taken as well but, if you do your part to help out maybe we can change the direction our planet is going. Another important step in becoming an adult it having a nice planet to be one in and taking care of it.