Empty teat dip barrels get a second life at Soaring Eagle Dairy, LLP, in Newton, Wis. They hold individual cloth towels which are used to prep cows. In addition, the side of a barrel provides a convenient location for milkers to hang teat dippers, says Jim Fitzgerald, one of five owners of the 500-cow dairy.

After cleaning, the barrels were cut in half lengthwise and suspended in the parlor. To do so, they stretched a 0.25-inch cable the length of the parlor pit and about 9 feet above the pit floor. Then, they bolted 5-foot-long pieces of 1-inch aluminum angle iron onto the ends of each half barrel and hooked them to the cable. They chose aluminum to prevent rust, Fitzgerald says.