Plastic Hangers, According to Mommy Dearest

My home contains a few hundred plastic hangers.  Since we have learned that plastic is the reincarnation of Satan himself, what are we to do with them?  I spent some time considering the options and I’ve come up with a good solution (or at least I think it’s good.)  The few hundred plastic hangers I own have been serving their special purpose for some time now and have long ago off-gassed their evil toxins.  What is “off-gassing,” you ask? I’ll talk about it in an upcoming post, (spoiler alert) but simply put, it means the toxic material the plastic is made of gets into the air that you then breathe into your lungs.  I’d really like to recycle them all and invest in some hangers that are better for my family and the environment but it isn’t that simple. Plastic hangers are made out of a combination of crap plastic that either can’t be recycled or are very difficult to recycle, so even if I put every last one in the recycling bin, they will most likely still go to the dump. Most places won’t accept them as a donation, so that is out. It is estimated that 85% of all plastic hangers will end up in a landfill, so throwing them out isn’t an option I feel good about. Each day in the United States, 15.5 million plastic, wire, and wood hangers go in landfills. So what’s the best thing to do? Use what you have until it is broken. Check with your municipal recycling program to see if your broken plastic, wire, or wood hanger can be recycled.  When you need more hangers, opt for a material that is environmentally friendly. Check out recycled paper and fiberboard hangers from Ditto.  They can hold up to 20 pounds and can be recycled or composted at the end of their life. Don’t fall for plastic hangers that claim to be made out of recycled plastic.  They most likely are not 100% recycled material and we should be trying to get rid of using plastic at all. Recycled paper and fiberboard is my first pick, with steel hangers coming in second. Steel is a valuable resource and retains its value so it is not your run of the mill wire hanger. It will last virtually forever and if for some reason it doesn’t, it won’t (or shouldn’t) end up buried in a hole.  My third pick would be bamboo or wood hangers. I think they are durable and will last but they are often coated in varnish that will also off gas and makes recycling them impossible. When you need hangers, choose responsibly and make Mommy Dearest proud.