Eighteen years ago, Jane Wyler grabbed an old garment bag, threw her dirty clothes inside and toted it to the dry cleaners instructing them to hang her clean clothes in it, no plastic please. She has perfected her 100% cotton bag with a drawstring on the bottom and a zipper in front. Jokingly, Wyler called herself a Reusenik.
“Plastic dry cleaning bags are wasteful and unnecessary,†says Jane, a Brentwood native, mother of three and long-time environmental advocate. “The Clothesnik is a really simple way to make a difference.â€
Today, Wyler’s company, Reuseniks, is making the Clothesnik a ubiquitous, fashionable and functional must-have item. Donna Karan just selected the Clothesnik for her new Urban Zen stores, and locally, Fred Segal, Living Green, Weathervane, Green and Greener, and other fine boutiques sell the bag. Recently, the Clothesnik won First Place in the Sundance Channel’s “What’s the Big Idea†contest, and green catalogs such as buygreen.com and greenopia.com are hawking the bags online. Entertainment Tonight sent out over 1,000 invitations screening the Clothesnik as the invite itself to their Emmy Awards bash sponsored by People Magazine.
The Clothesnik has been purchased in large numbers by corporations wishing to deliver a message of eco-friendliness, and by dry cleaners eschewing those awful plastic bags and catering to the true needs of their customers. Ed Begley, Jr., Rob Reiner and Jamie Lee Curtis, all notable environmentalists, use and reuse the Clothesnik. The Clothesnik also sells online at www.reuseniks.com
