In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH 3.5 BILLION WIRE HANGERS?

In Business, March-April, Vol. 29, No. 2, p. 13

An alternative comes via a biodegradable shirt hanger made of 100 percent recycled paperboard and with a powerful in home marketing platform.

IN 2004, EcoHangers was created by JD Schulman, after encountering the all-too-common problem of trying to stuff wire shirt hangers from his mother's closet into a plastic trash bag. After wrestling the wire hangers into the bag and starting to haul the trash out of the house, the wire poked a large hole through the bag and left a trail of Thanksgiving gravy across the white carpet. It was then that Schulman realized that wire hangers were both a large burden for consumers and the environment, and he founded Hanger Network In-Home Media (www.hangernetwork.com) to produce and distribute his EcoHangers across the country.
Each year, more the 3.5 billion wire hangers are used in the United States alone. For perspective, this waste represents: 195 million pounds of steel per year - the equivalent of 60,000 cars; and 2.2 million miles of wire - enough to travel from the Earth to the moon nine times.
New York-based start-up company Hanger Network has created a solution to this environmental hazard with its EcoHanger, a biodegradable shirt hanger made of 100 percent recycled paperboard. EcoHangers, which are offered free to participating dry cleaners, are a sturdy and durable alternative to their wire counterparts. Supported by photo-quality advertising messages, EcoHangers allow brands to come into the bedrooms of their target consumers each morning, and can even offer free samples of products like aftershave, lotion and coupons. Brands like L'Oreal, Dunkin Donuts and Revlon are lining up to display their messages on EcoHangers, because they provide an effective way of reaching customers, and portray that the brands are supporting earth-friendly goods.
“We have developed a solution to such a significant environmental problem, that is also a great advertising platform - providing access to consumers not previously available to marketers,” says Bob Kantor, CEO of Hanger Network. “Advertisers can now take an active role in improving our environment by keeping millions of pounds of steel out of U.S. landfills, while also leveraging a powerful in-home marketing platform. It's a win-win.”
About the in-home market outlook, company executives describe it as “the largest delivery network in the country” with “zip-code level targeting capability.” They enthusiastically declare that consumers are reached when and where the message is most relevant, that consumers like the ecofriendly idea vs. wire, and that they reach consumers first.