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Eco-Hangers

Dry cleaning may get your nice clothes looking fresh, but some people may not realize those clean-looking clothes come at the cost of human health and a clean environment.

From the harsh chemicals used to clean the clothes to the billions of wire hangers that end up in the landfill, dry cleaning can actually be a pretty dirty business. But some in the industry are trying to clean up their act, by using alternative cleaning methods that avoid dangerous chemicals, by recycling hangers, and most recently by using hangers made from recycled paper.

EcoHangers are biodegradable shirt hangers made from 100 percent recycled paperboard. While they aren’t yet widely available, many dry cleaning operations do reuse or recycle the wire hangers most people are used to. Rather than letting them clutter up your closet or sending them to the landfill, why not gather them up and take them back to the cleaners on your next trip?

Research shows more than 3.5 billion wire hangers are used in the United States each year. That’s 195 million pounds of steel, or enough wire to stretch to the moon and back nine times!

Some communities are also witnessing the emergence of environmentally friendly dry cleaners, which forego perc, a carcinogen, the chemical most often used to clean shirts and fancy clothes.

Ask your local dry cleaner what steps management is taking to provide more eco-friendly services to your community. You may be surprised.

For more information about EcoHangers, go to www.hangernetwork.com.

For more information on dry cleaning chemicals and their effect on human health, visit  the NIH site.

For information on alternatives to dry cleaning, please click here.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org