Sustainable is Good

Merrick Earthsaver Bamboo Hangers

The interesting saga of greener clothing hangers from California-based Merrick Engineering continues with another unknown new product spotted in a retail store - this time at Target.

Back in March Sustainable is Good reported on Merrick's earthsaver corn hangers discovered at Wal-Mart stores.  We have still not heard anything regarding these hangers from either the company or Wal-Mart.  The corn-based hangers aren't even mentioned on Merrick's web site.

Discovered this week is another apparent addition to the earthsaver line - bamboo hangers in several different styles, seen featured in a special display in a Massachusetts Target store. 

The hangers are made almost entirely from bamboo sourced from China and come in a suit hanger, shirt hanger and a pants hanger.  The hangers were priced at $7.99 for a pack of six in either the suit or shirt style. 

It is unknown whether the bamboo earthsaver hangers are available at Target stores nationwide or only in select stores across the country.

The Merrick earthsaver mystery continues.  The company has not responded to requests for information on either of the hangers and their distribution/manufacture. 

From retail store watching it would appear the corn-based hangers are sold at Wal-Mart stores and the bamboo hangers are sold at Target stores.  It is not known whether either is exclusive to the stores.

What fascinates me about this hanger story is the lack of publicity from the company or either major retailer.  Both Wal-Mart (corn earthsavers) and Target (bamboo earthsavers) are both actively touting their greenness, yet neither have mentioned the hangers in any of their publications or web sites.

As has been reported from readers Wal-Mart makes the corn earthsaver hangers very difficult to find, often displaying them low and mixed in with other hangers.  The Target display I saw featured the hangers at the beginning of an aisle in the household organization section of the store.  The display was prominent and included some custom graphics.

Why the manufacturer Merrick doesn't have information on its web site regarding either hanger it manufacturers is a mystery.

Clearly time and effort have gone into the sourcing and development of the earthsaver product line - why not promote it?

Read our earlier story on Merrick's Earthsaver corn hangers.

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.