Hair used to clean oil spill?

[breezefaerie]

I came across this article today and wanted to know what everyone thought. (Forgive me if this is posted in the wrong place or has already been posted, or is just inappropriate).

Human hair from a group called Matter of Trust is being used to clean the oil spill in the Gulf. I'm not sure what to think of this.

http://www.stylelist.com/2010/04/30/human-hair-donations-being-used-to-cleanup-oil-spill/?icid=main|main|dl3|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.styleli st.com%2F2010%2F04%2F30%2Fhuman-hair-donations-being-used-to-cleanup-oil-spill%2F

[alligatorbaby23]

I think that is an amazing idea! Kudos to the guy who came up with this idea. Better than LoL ANYDAY!

[Capybara]

Who'd of thought... Thank you for sharing!

It seems that they're using the clippings from a regular haircut, maybe 1"-2" in length? Interesting concept. I wonder how many people are donating their hair to this cause?

[kwaniesiam]

I think it's awesome. Otherwise, the hair just gets thrown away.

[Debra83]

That's AWESOME!!!!

[VanillaTresses]

I have heard of hair being used in that type of way before-- it is particularly suited to attracting quite a bit of oil.

I cut all of my family's hair at home (mainly the boys, usually) and I always just let the cut hairs down in the lawn. Apparently it is also a good fertilizer (but slow release, due to the slow breakdown of hair). Romanticizing about a bird using some as a lining for its nest is kind of whimsical, too. :D

[GoddesJourney]

Wow, we just give ours, my dog's and my parrot's feathers to the nesting birds outside. But this is brilliant! People cut their hair all the time and it's just going to waste. Why not use it for something, right? If that's what it takes to keep our oceans clean, let's do it.

[halo_tightens]

I love this concept.

It almost makes me want to trim my hair, just so I can send an inch or two to these guys. :)

[rusika1]

I heard about this a few years ago. I believe it was a barber who came up with the idea; tests were run and it was found to be a very effective way to soak up spilled oil. Plus it can be cleaned and reused. They make big hair stuffed mats. I seem to recall that there was a pilot program up in the San Francisco Bay area where they used these, and then when their usefulness was exhausted they were taken to an area in Golden Gate Park (or the Presidio?) and used as mats to grow oil-eating mushrooms. And then the mushrooms were composted. Sometimes the whole "circle of life" thing makes perfect sense.

Just out of curiosity--breezefaerie, why would you not know what to think of this? It's pretty darned organic, it's doing something good for the environment, and it's a brilliant use of a material that would just be thrown away. What's not to like? Aside from the fact that there are oil spills in the first place...:)

[breezefaerie]

I don't know what to think because I've never heard of this. :)
I agree that it's great being completely organic and good for the environment.

Just unusual ... to me anyway:)

[ASillyKitty]

I saw this on a TV show once. Some hair cutters will sweep the clippings into bags and send them off to this organization to be used to clean the oil spills. It seems like a safe effective way to help clean!


They make big hair stuffed mats. I seem to recall that there was a pilot program up in the San Francisco Bay area where they used these, and then when their usefulness was exhausted they were taken to an area in Golden Gate Park (or the Presidio?) and used as mats to grow oil-eating mushrooms. And then the mushrooms were composted. Sometimes the whole "circle of life" thing makes perfect sense.


Wow, I love this! What a clever way to get rid of the oil!

[rusika1]

I don't know what to think because I've never heard of this. :)
I agree that it's great being completely organic and good for the environment.

Just unusual ... to me anyway:)

Ah, I see. It is pretty amazing though, isn't it?

(Wouldn't it be nice to find out Locks of Love donated their 'unusable' hair to the places that do this? That way at least something positive would happen with it!)


ETA: Here's a site that collects hair, wool, pet fur...http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/hairmatsinfo.html

[Beatnik Guy]

(Wouldn't it be nice to find out Locks of Love donated their 'unusable' hair to the places that do this? That way at least something positive would happen with it!)


I was going to mention LoL. Don't they have warehouses of unused hair? (based on donations vs wigs stats). :rolleyes:

[marisa]

That's amazing!! I had never heard of this before.

[embee]

I read about hairmats a couple of years back and thought it was a wonderful idea. Now to see it being used even more is just great! :)

[Yozhik]

This is so awesome! I found it when I was researching the oil spill near Louisiana :)

Here's another link to an article that has a video which I think is pretty cool:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/04/nonprofit-matter-of-trust_n_562918.html

I showed this to my coworkers, and they nominated me to donate (my hair's the longest of our entire department, and it's only APL!). I told them I loved my hair too much, then they asked me if I'd do it to save the environment :rolleyes:
They were just teasing me, though ;) ETA: check out 2:24 of the video to see how effective it is :)

[jivete]

I'd heard this before, but it's coming up now with the oil spill is the Gulf. Private donations of hair trimmings aren't encouraged because they really need a large amount of hair. But if you are going to get your hair trimmed, you can choose a salon that sends their trimmings to the Matter of Trust organization. I just donated some money since I'm not planning on trimming my hair any time soon.

[JessTheMess]

My question is what happens with the mats after they are used? How are they disposed of being saturated with the oil? Sorry if this was answered all ready.:confused:

[burns_erin]

My question is what happens with the mats after they are used? How are they disposed of being saturated with the oil? Sorry if this was answered all ready.:confused:

They feed them to oil eating mushrooms amongst other things. Then the remaining hair and the mushrooms are composted.

Of course unfortunately all the hair in the world is not going to really do much till they manage to cap the leaks. Since it is ongoing and has already hit Louisiana a controlled would probably be more coastline saving. The bayou is such a delicate ecosystem to start with this is positively catastrophic.

But the theory is a good one.

[burns_erin]

I'd heard this before, but it's coming up now with the oil spill is the Gulf. Private donations of hair trimmings aren't encouraged because they really need a large amount of hair. But if you are going to get your hair trimmed, you can choose a salon that sends their trimmings to the Matter of Trust organization. I just donated some money since I'm not planning on trimming my hair any time soon.

I wonder is the military donating their hair. I know they do ALOT of hair cuts. And if not I think they should.

[restourceful]

My question is what happens with the mats after they are used? How are they disposed of being saturated with the oil? Sorry if this was answered all ready.:confused:

I read that they can be cleaned and reused.



They feed them to oil eating mushrooms amongst other things. Then the remaining hair and the mushrooms are composted.

Really? I never heard of oil eating mushrooms. Which mushrooms are oil eating mushrooms? Am I really that ignorant and everyone knows about oil eating mushrooms? Please tell me I'm really not that ignorant...:brickwall

[burns_erin]

I read that they can be cleaned and reused.




Really? I never heard of oil eating mushrooms. Which mushrooms are oil eating mushrooms? Am I really that ignorant and everyone knows about oil eating mushrooms? Please tell me I'm really not that ignorant...:brickwall

I honestly don't have a good source for my that is just what we are being told down here. You know, by the mysterious "they" that absolutely no one has heard first hand. The one time I heard it made sense was when they specifically mentioned oyster mushrooms for mycoremediation.

Not a research article but documentation that they can do it.

http://www.fungi.com/mycotech/mycova.html

And also from personal experience I have found that mushrooms will really grow on top of the oil dirt under a leaking car, just so long as you are not running them over.

As far as I know though it is a fairly new concept and not something most people are familiar with. But for obvious reasons, the topic has come up down here, I mean it has not hit us but all it would take to be disastrous would be a change in weather patterns, or god forbid a hurricane.

[burns_erin]

Ahh, and here is some other stuff...

http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-11-14/news/17270165_1_lisa-gautier-hair-mats-motor-oil

http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/01.09.08/cover-0802.html

But really, not every area on is using the same methods for cleanup so it can get really confusing.

[Kiraela]

I sent the link to Matter of Trust to a friend who works in a salon down here - she got her boss to sign up with them, and called around to as many salons in Baton Rouge as she could - they're all donating their trimmings now! Hopefully the 'Top hat' (http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/93373779.html) as they're calling it, will work.

[restourceful]

Thanks for the links, burns_erin. I guess I really am that ignorant. :nono:

[burns_erin]

Thanks for the links, burns_erin. I guess I really am that ignorant. :nono:

Nah, like I said, it is not common, and most of my friends and family who are not down here have no clue either, hell a few people I have met around here are pretty cluless too.

[Kat]

Last time my mom went to get her hair cut, I told her to tell the salon about it. Our hairdresser thought it was a great idea, so I hope she convinces the owner... I was thinking of cutting from knee-length back to classic soon anyway, and I will ABSOLUTELY be donating it to Matter of Trust...if the salon hasn't decided to donate by then, I'll sweep it up myself and ship it off. I've been saving the hair I comb off my kitty too, with the intention of trying to spin it into yarn some day, but I think I'll donate it to them instead too, considering our current oil spill situation.

So i guess if anyone ever asks "would you donate your hair?" yes I would...just not to LoL or any of that crap.

ETA: Hey guys, do you think it'd be too creepy if I also saved all the hair I shed when I detangle it and such? Is it too weird to send them "hairballs"? I mean, that's a pretty damn significant amount of hair, really... lol

[littlebabywulf]

My normal salon does this all the time. They save the clippings from the floor and ship them off. I didn't read the whole thread, but I was getting a pixie cut today (:o Sorry! I cut 10 inches off a couple of months ago and went to a pixie and donated the tail to Pantene and went in for a trim today; I feel like I shouldn't be on this board even though I know people are OK with short hair :o) and my stylist and I were talking about the organization. I guess due to the economy they were getting hard to use in the past; they lost the warehouse they were using or something like that so shipping hair was challenging. But, if people and other salons are responding as they have been to this spill I think it will help them get back on track.

I personally can't come up with anything wrong with this whole plan. It makes me sick that we're so oil dependent and that so much is trashing the Gulf area right now. If people are going to cut their hair, this is a good method of helping fix what we're doing wrong to our planet.

[Igor]

I read about this idea many years ago :) Someone speculated that since those poor furry animals always gets hit the hardest by an oil spill, it would make sense to use fur or hair to soak up the oil. I hope this time they get it organised enough to matter

[madisenz]

What a fantastic idea!! I wonder if my studio does this? It would be sort of weird to propose the idea though...

[princessp]

Wow that is definitely awesome, but I seriously cannot think of this careless oil spill or my blood pressure will rise.

[LawyerGirl]

I was walking by a salon on the way to work this morning and saw a sign that said that all of the haircuts at that salon go to help clean up the oil spill. Initially, I assumed that for every haircut, they would donate a certain amount to help clean up... but, no. They meant literally clean up the oil spill. They will actually sweep up the hair, and ship it to the gulf, where it is used to soak up oil. I thought that was really weird and thought I would share! :o

[RedStripe]

I never heard about this before either, but looks like this is actually something that people are really doing.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-hairoil_19met.ART0.State.Edition1.4964bca.html

[Dolly]

I took my son in for a haircut last week, and that is what our stylist is doing as well....

[Nightshade]

www.matteroftrust.com

This charity collects human and pet hair for causes just like this :)

[time_on_fire]

So according to the article that RedStripe posted above, the disbursement chemicals were approved to use in the oil clean up fairly quickly, but they are still waiting for approval from the Coast Guard to use hair.

????!!

I am so glad that the volunteers are not letting that stop them from shipping the hair and creating the booms. At least they'll be ready when they do get approval.

Is there anyone we can write to to encourage the approval be expedited?

[time_on_fire]

Ha Ha! Check out the cartoon on this page....

http://www.matteroftrust.org/about_us/press.html

:rollin:

[dropinthebucket]

That is so neat! a great charity use where the hair really [I]does[I] go to a good cause.

[Nightshade]

And the great thing about Matter of Trust is you can use sweepings and clippings! You don't have to have inches and inches to donate. Also, if you brush/shave your cats or dogs, you can donate that hair too, so long as it's clean :)

[going gray]

My hair salon is currently collecting hair to send to the gulf in an effort to somehow be of some help with the awful problem.