#97 hang ups

It was another weekend of purging old mementos at the homestead, and the only thing my mother's house had more of than mothballs was hangers.  We had a proliferation of them -- three garbage bags full and counting.  Apparently the donation centers have their fill of them as well, as hangers are on the list of items that are not accepted in their pickups.  Unless someone has ideas for a large-scale wire art project, I'm afraid they are landfill bound.

As a society, we have made great progress in reducing the demand for plastic bags.  Why could we not have similar incentives to stop the wasteful supply chain for hangers?  Stores, dry cleaners and resale outlets could offer incentives for hanger return.  Just as you now often receive a discount for bringing your own bag, you could save a few cents by putting last week's hangers in with this week's laundry service.  Stores could revert to the sturdy wooden hangers that were reused for generations.  We could stop selling those trendy plastic hangers that line almost every dorm room closet in America and make the trusty metal ones a hip/vintage, in-demand item again.

The hanger used to be a standby staple for fishing open the locks that were closed on the car door by mistake or for crafting an emergency set of rabbit ears for the television.  With their secondary use market gone, and more clothes sold on hanger-filled racks in big stores instead of lovingly folded on shelves in the boutiques or hand-crafted at home, there are more of them around than ever.  

Just like the theme of most entries on this blog, little things add up to make a big difference.  Little steps in reduction of waste and consumption can have a meaningful impact.  Let it start with you.

-- beth triplett
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