According to The Daily Green, 75% of clothes hangers end up in landfills where they can leach dangerous chemicals into the ground water. Retailers, dry cleaners, and hospitality locations toss billions of hangers annually. If we do our small part to recycle them it can make a big difference.

Francesca Clarke from DIY Life offers these suggestions for reusing coat hangers:

• Shoe hanger Bend up each end of the hanger and it will nicely hold a pair of shoes. This is particularly useful for some of your nicer shoes that you don't want scuffed around on that hall closet floor. You'll need to allot them some closet space but it will keep them clean and organized.

• Go fishing I'm not suggesting you use an old wire hanger as a fish hook! You can use it to make a net. Bend the hanger into a circle and stretch old pantyhose around it. The children can take this to look for little fish in a stream, or sift out seashells at the beach.

• Unlock car doors While this is most successful on TV, it will still work on some older model cars. Stretch the hanger as long and straight as you can with a hook on the end. Reach down between the window and door until you feel the latch. Pull it up and you'll unlock the door.

• Unclog drains Wire hangers are great for unclogging drains, both toilet and sink. You can go fishing around in the drain and try to remove the obstruction.

• Mobile This could be a really fun project for an older sibling to make for the new baby. Use the hanger as your base and attach string and decorations. Colorful ribbons, or bells and seashells would work well. You might also like to hang pictures of family and friends from the mobile.

• Bubble wand This is another fun one for children. With your help the hanger can be bent into any shape and used as a bubble wand. Pour bubble soap into an old ice cream lid or other large shallow dish, dip the wand in and have fun.

You can also use freecycle.org to find a place that will accept them for recycling.

One UK reader from Recycle This sends her plastic hangers to:

Cotswold Plastics Reclamation Ltd
Unit 107 Aston Down
Stroud
Gloucestershire
GL6 8HR

She explains, “All they ask is that you split them between PS and PP plastic types (which is printed on most hangers) and they recycle them. I have sent loads of them using 2nd class post so its not too costly. Everytime I buy something new I make sure the shop assistant doesn’t put the hanger in the bag. I now have just the right amount of hangers at home!”