Starting with the April 2011 graduation ceremonies, Eastern Michigan University graduates who buy their caps and gown from the EMU Bookstore in the Student Center are helping the campus become more eco-friendly and sustainable.
EMU student and sustainability advocate Lois Vasquez spent four months this past academic year campaigning within Student Government and to EMU administrators to get the university to make the switch to the new gowns.
Vasquez, a 31-year-old professional chemistry and biology double major, began her journey when she attended an Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education conference last year. She saw the eco-friendly products at an expo and came back to campus with the idea of making the switch at EMU.
Vasquez was a Student Senate member when she began the project in October 2010. After gaining the Student Senate’s approval, Vasquez polled students on my.emich.edu.
“To me sustainability is as much about including people in the process, so I wanted to have the student body decide,” she said. “We had over a 25-percent response rate— most people were for it.”
After getting the student body’s approval, Vasquez “pushed and pulled and begged” to get the project approved by EMU administrators.
“Everyone was behind it,” she said. “The problem was no one wanted to make the final decision.”Vasquez was given approval at the end of January, just before the deadline.
This year’s cap and gowns are furnished by Oak Hall Cap and Gown— the same company who previously furnished EMU grads— and are made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles called Greenweaver fabric.
According to the company’s website, approximately 23 bottles are used to make each of the caps and gowns.
Many other universities use Oak Hall’s Greenweaver caps and gowns, including Michigan State University.
“Over 5 percent of colleges and universities are using these caps and gowns,” Vasquez said. “[They’re] high-quality caps and gowns. If you want to keep them, the material is good enough to last.”
And the switch didn’t affect students’ wallets much, either.“I believe [the price change] was about $3,” Vasquez said.
The caps and gowns, which are only available for those receiving a bachelor’s or master’s degree, are also re-recyclable. The EMU Bookstore will have donation bins outside of the Convocation Center after the two graduation ceremonies and will accept donations after as well.
Vasquez is encouraging graduates to keep their caps for sentimental reasons but to donate their gowns.
“If people are willing to donate, [Oak Hall] are willing to take anything back to be put back into the process,” she said. “I think this is a great way for people to make a difference without going through anything extra.”Vasquez hopes this is a step toward making campus more sustainable.
“We have most of the pieces of the puzzle,” she said. “We just need to bring them together. This school is a perfect storm for sustainability.
Vasquez hopes to expand her sustainability advocacy on campus by creating a sustainability group and by creating a seminar series to educate people on what sustainability is. She also hopes to make EMU a part of AASHE. Eastern and Northern Michigan University are the only Michigan universities that are not AASHE members.
“This is the future,” she said. “If we don’t jump on board now we will be doing an incredible disservice to our graduates.”To get involved with Vasquez’s sustainability efforts, contact her at levasque1@emich.edu.
