By Leah Ingram

Posted: 04.20.09 | Tagged: recycling

Here's a riddle for you: What uses the same amount of steel each year as 60,000 cars? You may be surprised to learn the answer-3.5 billion dry-cleaner wire hangers, which nearly all consumers toss in the trash.

I know that before we kicked our dry-cleaning habit, I always felt guilty that I couldn't figure out how to reuse or recycle these wire hangers. Everything else that came from the dry cleaner I found other uses for, such as the bag that held shirts became a recycling bin for newspapers and the plastic bags that covered the clothes could double as packing materials. But those pesky wire hangers? I mean, there are only so many mobiles that you can make from wire hangers! I know that I'm not the only one struggling with this wire-hanger dilemma-check out this entry at Green as a Thistle.

I know that a few forward-thinking dry cleaners allow customers to recycle their wire hangers by bringing them back to the shop, much like grocery stores that offer a small financial incentive to grocery shoppers who reuse their store-issued bags. But what if your dry cleaner around the corner doesn't want to be bothered with taking returned hangers? (Many don't.) Well, good news.

The other day I learned about a company that offers a more earth-friendly alternative to these wire hangers. Called EcoHangers they are made from recycled paper and are 100 percent biodegradable. Supposedly, 35,000 dry cleaners nationwide have signed up to use EcoHangers; it would be great if all 50,000 dry cleaners did. I mean, how cool would it be to pick up your shirts, suits and slacks from the dry cleaner, and know that when you're done with the hanger, you can toss it in your recycling bin.

Now if we could just get the dry-cleaning industry to figure out a way to make a biodegradable plastic sheathing to cover cleaned clothes-something like those starch-based packing peanuts that melt in water.