Henry Abbott

As I reflect on my four years at Bowdoin, the things I’ll carry with me when I leave campus include a literal pile of Bowdoin-branded swag. You know the kind: sunglasses from Ivies, three t-shirts from your class council and an array of stickers. To an extent, I get it. Colleges will always be merch machines. As Creative Director Janie Porche told me, pursuing secondary and higher education is likely one of the most expensive and important consumer choices we’ll make in our lives. This merchandise is one way we show pride in our accomplishments. I’m not going to be the anti-free merch person—I’m an imperfect consumer myself. But I ask that as a Bowdoin community, we produce and accumulate it more mindfully.

As someone who cares deeply about our shared environment and plans to pursue a career in reducing our society’s impact on the planet, I cringe at the amount of free Bowdoin swag donated to Goodwill or the Sustainability Office’s Freecycle each year. If you don’t want to wear the Class of 2027 Sophomore Bootcamp sweatshirt, I doubt the average Brunswick resident will either. Clearly, we are overconsuming. Even efforts to redistribute existing materials are oversaturated with items people either don’t want or already own. Don’t get me wrong, I understand we live and operate within capitalist systems that can make our personal choices appear meaningless at times, but there is a strong argument for embodying your values. If nothing else, to inspire others to start thinking about their consumption habits. For example, I try to use old t-shirts more by wearing them to sleep, but I can only wear so many for that purpose before it becomes absurd. To quote Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s book, “Americans dispose of about 13 million tons of clothing and footwear each year,… [and] the average fast fashion garment is worn as little as seven times before it is discarded.” So, let’s get Bowdoin out of that habit.

There are certainly College events aided by a piece of coordinated merch. Move-in day is made far easier when we can tell new students and families: “Direct questions towards anyone wearing a bright blue shirt!” But these shirts don’t need to change every year. Though estimates vary, it takes around 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton t-shirt (that is about 56,000 gallons of water to make shirts for the ResLife student staff alone). Instead, let’s designate one official move-in day design and reuse the shirts. Then we only need to order replacement shirts, rather than printing hundreds of fresh t-shirts each August.

I understand the appeal of vintage sweatshirts sourced from the depths of a consignment store sale bucket or handed down from previous generations, but for that to happen, Bowdoin needs to invest in higher-quality merchandise and forgo the mass quantities. I would rather have a single L.L. Bean fleece from the Bowdoin Store than a t-shirt, a crewneck and a thin fleece from my class council—and that’s coming from someone who designed the merch! (To my class council: it’s not personal.) Imagine if we combined the money spent on all three of those items and let each student buy something from the Bowdoin Store (which is required to adhere to sustainability measures).

Alternatively, WBOR’s model allows interested parties to order a design of their choosing to be printed on the style and color of shirt they desire. This is an excellent example of how to ensure people receive something they will actually wear. We must adopt more models like this.

This is not to say that Bowdoin departments aren’t amenable—I spoke to folks in many departments about our excess merch, and they all welcomed my ideas—the problem is that the merch is coming from all corners of campus. For those creating merchandise, consider avoiding fad styles and sticking with timeless looks, skipping class years or dates and ordering ahead of time so that you’re not forced to choose the cheapest and fastest delivery. You can even coordinate with other departments to combine orders and save money. But first, ask if the free merch can instead be consumable, like a gift card to the Café in Smith Union or a local business.

My fellow students, remember that you don’t have to accept every piece of swag offered to you just because it’s free. But we can and should advocate for responsible and equitable distribution—all of our students deserve access to Bowdoin merchandise. Let’s focus on quality pieces that we’ll wear for the long haul.

Camille Beaulieu is a member of the Class of 2025.