University is using graduation gowns made from plastic bottles

Nearly 12,000 plastic bottles will have been saved from a landfill when students at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., graduate this month. The Smoky Mountain News reports that more than 500 of the 700 graduates and numerous participating alumni will be wearing eco-friendly gowns bought at the university bookstore. The gowns are made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles and each one will keep an average of 23 plastic bottles out of landfills.