It’s that happy time of year when seniors are graduating. For most, that means investing in a cap and gown – an outfit that might never be worn again. In Charlottesville, journalist Ashley Botkin wrote a column offering ten ways to recycle your traditional graduation garb.
While other students were reflecting , fondly, on their four years in college, freshman Ashley Botkin was having a laugh – thinking of what this year’s grads could do with their gowns and caps. She wrote a column for UVA’s student newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, pointing out that the robe makes a great Halloween costume for would-be witches or Harry Potters, and it could always be used for home improvements.
“Shove it under a chair if it’s a little wobbly," she says. "One of your blinds gets broken, just hang your robe right up there.”
Or keep that robe in the bathroom where, in a pinch, it can serve as a towel or bath mat. Toss the cap sideways, and your dog might mistake it for a Frisbee. Flip it over in the kitchen, and Botkin says it’d make a fine casserole cozy.
“It’s like an insulated thing that you put your casserole dishes in to keep it warm,” Botkin explains.
Or try using the robe to remove lint and pet fur from whatever you’re wearing.
“I have cats, lots of cats," she says. " My family and I foster them, so I could not touch a cat all day and end up with cat fur all over me, but it always seems to stick to black fabrics the most.”
She adds that this year’s zipper pull on the robes was especially large and heavy commemorating UVA’s bicentennial.
“You could use it as a sinker on your fishing lure or as a weapon if you haven’t had time to pick up your pepper spray yet. Just put it on a string and swing it around.”
Her own cap and gown from high school are in a closet somewhere, but having written this column – which has racked up more than 2,000 likes online, Botkin says she’ll have to find them and put them to better use.