A new hanger from (re)ˣ, an eco-design company founded by Los Angeles-based designer Paulina Quintana, has 100% recycled plastic contact gathered from or intercepted before entering the ocean.
Quintana says her mission is to create sustainable solutions for everyday products and turn them into an opportunity to remove plastic waste from the environment. Ocean Plastic Technologies, a South African manufacturing technology company that employs micro recycling plants deployed when weather events churn up plastic waste, converts what it collects into the end product.
The company, pronounced RE-to-the-X, already sells its hangers on its website for $20 for 10, and it is exploring further distribution at The Inspired Home Show. The company has sold more than 10,000 hangers to stores, consumers, high schools, colleges, and universities across North America, it stated.
The hangers feature a thick top hook for durability, a reinforced bridge to strengthen the hanger, integrated garment hooks and a double vertical strength pant bar increasing from one-quarter to one-half inch. Shoppers can choose from nine colors.
“We need to change people’s relationship to plastic,” said Quintana in introducing the hangers. “The environmental impact of discarded plastics is one of the most vexing issues we face. There are over eight billion plastic hangers discarded every year along with over eight million metric tons of plastics entering our oceans annually. Our new hanger represents an advancement in reducing the damage plastic is inflicting on our planet.”