merrick earthsaver hangers

Clothing hangers made from Corn

UPDATED 10/26/07 - See our story on Merrick Bamboo Hangers discovered this week at Target

Earthsaver hangers are made from 100% corn - yet they look and feel like traditional plastic clothing hangers. Made by Merrick as an environmentally sound alternative to petroleum-based plastic these hangers offer consumers an eco-friendly alternative. The corn for the hangers comes from renewable resources all grown by farmers in the US and is 100% compostable. The hangers are also made in the USA.

The earthsaver hangers are an innovative product one that certainly warrants some attention. There is no question we have endless amounts of corn in the United States, so a product like this that can use some of that corn makes sense. Is it a viable alternative to petroleum-based plastic hangers that exist in the billions in this country? I believe so and I would expect more products like this to appear on the market in the upcoming years.

In a related interesting move, Walmart stores are carrying the earthsaver hangers and offering them for about $3.50 for five of them. The earthsaver hangers differ in appearance from the inexpensive plastic hangers they replace. Their design is rather innovative holding clothes better than the traditional basic plastic hangers. Merrick calls the style a "heavy shirt" design.

Check Rajeev Singh's blog for some additional commentary on these hangers.  He raises some interesting points, namely that information and publicity related to this product are virtually nonexistent.  This is an interesting observation because its the type of product you'd think a company like Walmart would make an example of to show they are "green."  There may be a supply issue on these and it is unknown if they are carried by all Walmart stores or being tested in certain stores.   In addition the product's manufacturer Merrick provides no information on these hangers on their own company website... which is odd.

Comments

[udairaj.blogspot.com]

Price and placement of the product in store and on the website is still a big challenge.

[Jessica]

Plastics made from corn (PLAs) are advertised as “biodegradable.” And they are. IF your back-yard composting bin is capable of reaching 140 degrees for a stretch of 10 days or more. And that only happens at industrial composters specifically set up for this kind of thing. In the average home composting setup, corn plastics remain unchanged after six months, leading to accusations of false advertising on the part of firms like Wal-Mart, which pushes corn plastics to consumers as part of its new push to green-wash their image.

I am not so sure if corn is the best option.

[EarthFreak]

After working many years in retail, I would have to say that there are definitely ENOUGH HANGERS IN THE WORLD. Seriously, if production stopped today, I am sure that we would have enough hangers to suit our needs for years to come.

I have seen companies receive products on hangers, amass too many, then simply throw away (e.g. LANDFILL) hundreds, if not thousands of hangers annually. Background info: Many clothing stores get their products shipped to them already on hangers. Over time, these add up. If reuse programs were better established, hangers could be returned to manufacturers and distribution centers, reducing the need for new products.

As for the consumer's end of this issue, ask yourself several questions before purchasing new hangers:
1) Do I really need this? Consuming new products IS NOT GREEN, especially when reuse is an option. New products require significantly more resources (e.g. energy, water, etc.) for manufacture. Reuse always trumps the greenest of new products (with toxicity issues aside).
2) Can I reuse old hangers?
a) I get this feeling that wherever there a person who needs hangers, there is another with far too many. Communicate with your family, friends, and neighbors. You could be killing two birds with one stone by taking someone else's burdening overload. Yard sales, community centers, and neighborhood meetings are great places to strike up conversation. Heck, you could even organize a clothing swap (or just plain swap meet) to get the reuse ball a rollin'.
b) Communicate with retailers. When you buy, ask the retailer about the destination of the hanger your item was on. I have seen 30 yard dumpsters filled to the top with hangers at Target, TJMAXX, Marshalls, etc. Perhaps they will let you keep yours or even give you extras. Heck, you can even save the energy, grab a phone book, and let your fingers do the walking! Call around and ask retailers for hangers.
c) If you're feeling adventurous, take a peak around the back of those big box stores. When you look in the trash, remember that often hangers are thrown out NOT because they are broken or otherwise unusable. It's due to surplus. I've even seen cases where companies have even brought in special one-time super-sized dumpsters to dispose of hangers in.

Happy Reuse!

[morgana Baie]

Hi I work for a clothing company in California and we are trying to find out if we can buy these hangers for our line instead of buying the petroleum based hangers. We have tried to contact Merrick but they have not responded. We were wondering if you had any contact with the company and if you could maybe pass that contact our way. We just want to cut back on our plastic use and we use a LOT of plastic hangers.