PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Today’s Temple University commencement is also the beginning of a new phase for the Cherry and White going green.

Graduations can all seem cut from the same cloth but at Temple’s, not only are the gowns recycled going in but now going out.

Sandra McDade, Temple’s director of sustainability, says the school has been buying gowns made from recycled plastic bottles for about 18 months now, but after the ceremony, what then?  This time, they can be re-recycled.

“They have the opportunity to put them into a recycling box and then we will send them back to a manufacturer to make either new gowns or other new products,” McDade says this change was driven by students and costs each participant about $2 more than traditional gown rental and return.

Reported by John Ostapkovich, KYW Newsradio