HangerNetworkThere's a lot of talk about how bad dry cleaning chemicals are. We've recently noted how California is phasing out the uber-toxic perc. But what about the annoying wire hangers that come with your freshly pressed trousers? About 3.5 billion of them escape from closets around the country and end up in landfills.

Now there's a better alternative: EcoHanger. The sturdy EcoHanger is made of 100% recycled paper and pays for itself with advertising. In other words dry cleaners get EcoHangers for free, the only price the customer pays is getting hit with a little direct marketing.

So far the recyclable hanger is making its way into New York City, San Francisco and other major metropolitan areas, and if distributor HangerNetwork has anything to do with it they'll be making their way into a drycleaner near you.

But until they do here's a few things you can do with your wire hangers:

• Use them.
• See if your dry cleaner will take them back to recycle.
• Find out if there is a metal collection site or scrap recycling center in your area (wire hangers can not be thrown in with aluminum curb side pick up).

Via CNET