Greening Up Your Graduation



Dreamstime Stock Photos / Graduation Robe © Uciekinier  ID: 5257063

Congratulations graduates! Graduation is here and so are the graduation celebrations. There are many things you, your family and friends can do to green up your festivities!

 

Whether you are graduating from high school or college, jobs are probably one of the things you’re thinking about. Did you know that your bottle really means jobs? Recently, the Carolina Plastics Recycling Council created the Your Bottle Means Jobs campaign which was launched in the Carolinas. The goal is to capture more of the 3 billion plastic bottles thrown in the trash each year. By recycling only two more bottles a week you’ll help create jobs, grow the economy, support local businesses, reduce energy and other natural resources, and save valuable landfill space right here in your own backyard.

Chances are you might be wearing some of the fruits of your recycling efforts to your graduation. North Carolina based company Unifi Incorporated, creator of REPREVE ® recycled fiber, in partnership with Oak HallCap & Gown have created green graduation gowns. Each Oak Hall GreenWeaver® and NuHorizon® gown is made from about 27 post-consumer plastic bottles. As of today, over 87.7 million plastic bottles were recycled and made into new, recyclable graduation gowns. Now that’s getting off to a green start for your next journey!

Don’t stop there! Greening up your graduation festivities starts with the invitations and announcements. Consider emailing...not only will it save you on postage, it will save money from ordering the paper invitations as well. Do you still want to go the paper route? That’s ok! Be sure to ask everyone to recycle the announcements and invitations when they no longer need them.

Dreamstime Stock Photos | Wild Flowers Including Daisies And Corn Flowers

ID: 82988084 | © creativecommonsstockphotos

Decorating can be beautiful and environmentally friendly. Instead of buying new decorations, ask family or friends if they have any you could reuse. If they don’t, try incorporating nature into your decorations with greenery, flowers, shells or other natural materials.

Dreamstime Stock Photos Free Picture | Fruit Market

ID: 4369081 | © Michael Zysman 

A little preparation can go a long way! When you are planning the meal, first get a list together. Then try incorporating local foods into the menu. Local farmer’s markets are a great source of local food. Once the meal is over, don’t throw away those leftovers, reinvent them into other meals or compost them.

Dreamstime Stock Photos | Festive Table Setting

ID: 84940824 | © creativecommonsstockphotos 

Take steps to reduce the waste from your celebration. At your party, consider reusable dining ware and cloth napkins and table cloths. Can’t get away from using disposable items? Use one-time use items made from biodegradable or compostable materials where possible. Recycle all other materials such as plastic, aluminum, paper, and if possible try to avoid using Styrofoam.

Whew! Now that the festivities are over it’s time to clean it all up. Clean post-graduation messes with environmentally friendly cleaning products. Carefully pack away any decorations and excess supplies that may be used again.

 

As always, Reduce-Reuse-Recycle as much as possible. Now got get ‘em graduates: the world is your [recyclable] oyster! 

Dreamstime Stock Photos | Graduates Throwing Graduation Caps

ID: 84994878 | © creativecommonsstockphotos 

 

My Trip to Australia, Part 3: Water Conservation

Kristen Aubut

During my visit to New South Wales, Australia, I saw that water conservation is a top priority for Australians. They are wise to be water conscious because Australia is one of the driest continents in the world. My husband’s cousin, who lives a couple hours outside Sydney, could recall when his area went four months without rain.

My husband’s grandmother’s house where we stayed three weeks is not hooked up to city water. Instead, her water comes straight from the sky. Rain water collects in the three large cisterns right next to her house. You can see the two teal-colored cisterns and the concrete cistern in the pictures below. All of her drinking, cooking, washing and irrigation water comes from these cisterns. The rain water runs through a filter before coming into the house, but still, the water consumed by my husband, son and I was boiled because we are used to treated city water.

Between 40 and 50 years ago when this property was a working farm, the six-person family had only two small cisterns, so water had to be strictly conserved. Once the water in the cisterns was used up, the family had no more water until it rained again. One way the family conserved was by limiting water use at bath time. One bathtub of hot soapy water was filled. The youngest bathed first, then, using the same bath water, the next child bathed. The dirtiest family member, usually the one who had done the dirtiest work on the farm that day, would go last. Only one pitcher of fresh water was added to each subsequent bath. This conservation practice was still being used when my husband visited his family when he was 13-years-old. Conserving water at bath time is very important considering a 15-minute shower at five gallons per minute could easily use up 75 gallons of water.

Once the three larger cisterns were installed, the family could relax their water conservation efforts slightly. During my stay, we still made sure to take short showers and turn off the water while soaping up. One water conservation technique the family still uses is in the area of dishwashing. This form of conservation was difficult for me to get used to. After a meal, one sink of hot soapy water was filled up. All of the dishes from the twelve of us were scrubbed with this water. Then, instead of the dishes being rinsed, the soap was wiped off with a dish towel.

You can see how much of the yard is taken up by these three cisterns.

















































This rain water cistern is in the backyard of my husband’s great aunt whose house is right in the middle of a suburb. Every house I visited had at least a small rain water barrel to water the garden.























Even large chain stores collect and reuse rain water.



















As the global population increases, we need to be wiser with our water usage. Our country could benefit by adopting some of Australia’s water conservation practices. We could start by making rain barrels and cisterns a more common sight in American backyards.