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Graduation Woes

As of Saturday, May 18th 2013, I have become an RIT alum. I honestly never thought the day would come, especially the five days leading up to graduation. Whoever invented 100% recycled plastic bottle gowns was out of their mind. The instructions said “DO NOT IRON. DO NOT DRY.” What the heck am I supposed to do? Beat it with a feather duster and hope it scares the wrinkles out? Put it on a clothesline — yeah, because college kids have those. Being a packaging science major you would think I would know how to “iron” plastic bottles. Sadly, RIT doesn’t teach us that so I was on my own.

I was certainly in a bit of a pickle; I had five days to remove the wrinkles from the “very wrinkle resistant” attire (I would hate to see the non “very wrinkle resistant” gowns). I thought, being a smart college student, that I would ask Google for some help. What did I find? Not much. Google had failed me? I was baffled but I kept searching. After some search word changes, I eventually stumbled upon a blog by someone who put her husband’s gown in the dryer with a wet towel.

Let me tell you a secret, it did not work. Tried that tip and it didn’t really remove a darn wrinkle. I soaked that towel and I put it on medium for 30-minutes. Nada. I maybe removed 15% of the wrinkles. Big whoop. I still wasn’t up to my desired 90% removed state.

At this point you’re probably wondering why I’m so obsessed with being wrinkle-free for graduation, right? Well, it’s simple. I was the 2013 College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) delegate for Packaging Science. I was the first packaging student to enter the room and I was also the sign carrier. I didn’t want to look bad and let down my department.

Desperate to find an answer, I took an iron to it (I used one of my shirts between the iron and gown so I didn’t melt it). Guess what? That didn’t work either. Talk about “the usual” means of removing wrinkles failing me.

Now before I reveal the secret, let me state that I tried the whole “steaming” aspect suggested on the package. Let me also state that steaming did absolutely nothing. If anything, it fogged up my mirror and had me choking on water vapors. And if you ever have to experience wheezing from water vapor, please run out of the room to breathe dry air. Your lungs will thank you.

Hopeless and ready to call it quits, I did the one thing left. I took a shower with it. I got that baby soaked. Now hanging it up as it drenching wet probably wouldn’t do much, or so I figured, so I decided to add some weight to the bottom of my gown. You know, to really force those pesky wrinkles out. I tacked the sleeves to the wall and I… put clothespins on the end of the gown and on the pleated areas. I let it dry and a day later I re-wet the areas that were still showing some wrinkles.

When I awoke that next morning, I was in shock. Total awe. They were pretty much gone! Getting the iron out, I tackled the creased areas (as in I re-creased the areas that were supposed to be creased). Within 30-minutes, my gown was ready to show off. It was about 95% wrinkle free.

Convocation and graduation came and I would have been crowned the winner of the “wrinkle-free gown award.” Too bad no such award exists. It should. Defeating those wrinkles was no easy feat. It was a battle but I came out on top.

I share this story with you and hope that you, unlike me, won’t waste hours trying to clean up that wrinkly mess known as a plastic gown. I wish the class of 2013 all the best luck and I hope those after us can learn from our graduation woes. And I leave the class of 2014 with the knowledge that plastic bottle gowns were not made with the intension toe wrinkle-free unless, of course, you are determined and stubborn.

Oh, and professor Mike Johansson, if you’re reading this, this is the blog post I had to write. Recall that my mother said she wouldn’t give me my diploma until I did. Well, it’s written and I’m waiting for it to come. 🙂

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Packaging: Friend or Foe

In just the past week, I have heard more students complain about packaging than I’ve heard in my lifetime.  Sure, I get where they are coming from and why they find it such a hassle, but what people forget is that packaging is a luxury.  It’s not something that should be taken for granted nor should it be overlooked, forgotten, or hated.  In fact, packaging should qualify for an award as it has changed the world in so many ways — ways that most people don’t even realize.

Let me take a step back and get everyone up to speed on what I mean by this.  Packaging, believe it or not, has been around almost forever.  A bit shocking, right?  So, let’s really think about it.  Can you name something that doesn’t need packaging?  Come on, just one thing.  That’s all I’m asking.

Well, I’ve asked this question more than a dozen times (remember, I’m studying Packaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology) and only once have I received a really good answer that didn’t require packaging.  But before I reveal that answer, let me share some of the good guesses I’ve heard.

Grass.  Sorry!  When you discover the snow, or winter snow plow, has killed off a patch of grass, the seed you buy in the spring will come in a sack, package or bag.

Tires.  Ah, a tricky one.  But how do they get the tires to the store.  Do they just magically appear there?  No, I’m pretty sure there was some form of packaging, or plastic wrap, used during transportation.

A heart.  Well, one would be packaged upon transport to a special surgery or prior to  a transplant.  After all, it will need to be sterile and packaging can pull that feat off quite fine.

A body (perhaps my favorite guess).  I always seem to have one audience member shout out this guess.  They think they’re trying to be funny, but the answer is no laughing matter.  Although a bit gruesome, body bags are a form of packaging as are caskets and coffins.

As you’re probably noticing, packaging comes in many shapes, sizes, and forms.  Packaging isn’t just that annoying shrink-wrap that keeps spices sealed up tight and it surely isn’t limited to just cardboard boxes (we like to call it corrugated as it’s the proper technical term).  Water bottles (both plastic and BPA free reusable), shopping bags, packaging peanuts, laptop cases — are all valid forms of packaging.

So, as of right now, there’s really only one thing that we can’t seem to package and it isn’t air (because balloons totally require that to work).  The “thing” I’m talking about is gravity.  I mean, how do you package something that isn’t tangible.  It’s kind of just there.  Natural phenomenons like this are one of the few things that don’t have packaging.

But, please, if you can think of something else, I would love to hear it!  I would love to add it to the list of things that don’t “mix” with packaging.Hopefully, you can now understand my frustration when I overhear people ranting and raving about packaging being horrible and useless.  Packaging is far from that.  In fact, packaging makes our daily lives possible.  Medicine, food, drinks — of all them involve packaging.  Meat would spoil without packaging.  And, if cups weren’t around, we would have to lap up water just like a wild animal.

All in all, I want you to walk away remembering that packaging is crucial to our everyday lives.  Yes, it can be a pain in the butt, like when you buy video games that come in that awkward packaging.  Isn’t that stuff just horrid to open!?  And, even though some packaging may not always  be of the “greenest” of materials, once you cut, ripe, tear, open, or unfold, you truly appreciate the value of packaging as the end product is in place, secure, and usable — or at least it should be.

Packaging is no easy task and is forever changing.  But, it has improved the quality of life, providing us with a whole slew of things ranging from nutrition to entertainment to mobility and so on.  So, the next time you’re about to complain about a package, think about what packaging has done for you.  Think what packaging has done for mankind.

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Backyard Birding

This gallery contains 13 photos.

The other day my mother and I were hiking in the woods and we just so happened to meet up with my father at our cabin.  While sitting on the benches, we were wowed by the number of feathered friends we had before us.  Naturally, I wanted to run back to the house to grab […]

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A Nice Cup of Tea

This gallery contains 8 photos.

I found it odd that my ice cubes rarely looked “normal” so I decided to photograph them and share my bizarre frozen cube with you.  Enjoy~! Does anyone know why my ice cubes are freezing in such a strange manner?  And I should mention that this wasn’t just a one time deal either!  It happens […]

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