Clothing hangers made from Corn
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.