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.

E is for elephant poo

So, it turns out that you can make paper out of just about anything full of fibrous materials and pachyderm poo is...well, packed with it. One of the best things about elephant poo paper is that they do all of the mulching, so in that way there is very little waste.

There are a number of companies selling elephant poo journals and stationary, but few offer the colours available from the Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company's collection available at Nature's World .

F is for Fire hose

Ah firemen. Everyday heroes running into burning buildings to rescue us mere mortals, collecting our cats from trees they shouldn't be in and always willing to demonstrate the dangers of the chip pan at a village fete.

And of course there are their hoses, those big, strong hoses. After working hard for years, saving all those lives, it seems a shame to toss them away like common trash! No! We must stand up for the hose, like the hose stood up for us.

Belts, wallets, handbags, candle holders, place mats, have been created by E&KO from the UK's finest fire hoses. Possibly one of the most durable, and honourable, materials you'll come across.

T is for Tyre Swing

These backyard swing has been around the block more times then I can count, but there life in the old horse yet. Created by Wildlife Creations International, each is made from a recycled tire and transformed into a brand new plaything! It was even featured on Treehugger!