I is for Ink Pen

Ink Pens - ok, maybe it's a bit of a stretch - but we use tons of Bics and Biro pens each year, literally tons, and we have yet figure out where to recycle ink pens successfully because they contain so many tiny bits of plastic, metal and ink. So what do you do when there isn't an easy solution? Get creative.

The Pen Guy

Costas Shuler is the owner and operator of the aptly named, Mercedes Pens, auto mobile. Way back in 2005 Shuler, also known as 'The Pen Guy', had an ingenious idea of how to recycle some 10,000 ink pens and marker pens -simply glue them on to his 1981 Mercedes! His pen car is now world famous and he has become an advocate for recycling and reclaiming. He's even set up his own Pen Recycling facility, and by that I mean that he's got a PO Box where you can send your empty pens to him for use on the road or in his special Pen Guy appearances. He's also raising money this year to put together a collection of 'Pentings' from the 60,000+ pens that he's collected from around the world.

You can put your pens to good use at : The Pen Guy - P.O.Box 994 - Forestville, CA 95436 

Give to the 60,000 Pen Project 

Need more inspriration?

This ink pen chandelier made of a few hundred Bic pens by enPiezaàwould make a beautiful compliment to some of the recycled hanger chandeliers we've seen.

Or make a fashion statement with this pen cap coat by Maison Martin Margiela.

Source: Ecouterre

H is for Hangers

Source: Curbly

Source: Inhabitat

Source: Karolo

A beautiful selection of designs using the common coat hanger. Everyone knows that a clothes hanger makes a great aerial antenna but these designs from Organelle Design,  Natalie Sampson and 1961 EcoDesign are on just of the hook!

Repurposed for a reason?
We use a lot of hangers in the West? How many? It's a hard to say for certain, but in February 2012, M&S celebrated the success of their charity hanger recycling drive which, in only six months, saw 100 million clothes hangers from Marks & Spencers shoppers recycled in aid of UNICEF. The campaign was a great success - simply add in turn in the hanger from your purchase at the til - and helped raise £370,000 for the charity's imminently worthy water project, but isn't that a quite a lot of hangers? You'd be surprised. Way back in 2008, it was reported that in the US alone, the nation's fashionistas and clothing retailers were chucking away more than 8 billion hangers, enough to fill the Empire State building.

Why so many hangers?
It's pretty simple. Cheap imports. Most of the clothing that comes into Western shopping outlets comes already placed on a cheap plastic hanger. So the shop hangs it up, gives it to us and then - because it's not really usable beyond this point - the hanger gets chucked away. Because of their composite material, many of the hangers that are used in the retail industry are not actually recyclable, however, in England, retailers are starting get their act together, with supermarket giants Sainsburys reusing 4,297,935 hangers and recycling a further 16,351,005 in 2011.