While getting my hair trimmed last week, I learned my hair clippings — and many others from the metro area — are being sent to the Gulf Coast to help in the oil clean-up efforts.
As it turns out, a pound of hair absorbs oil better than fur or synthetics, soaking up a quart per minute. Metro area hair salons will be collecting clippings through the end of the month.
Then they will be bundled in nylon stockings and used as booms to lap up oil that has leaked in the Gulf of Mexico.
Salons across the U.S. are working with Matter of Trust, a group that collects hair for oil spills. According to the group’s Web site, about 2,600 oil spills occurred in 2009.
The idea for using hair clippings to soak up oil was birthed following the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989. An Alabama hair stylist noted how well hair soaked up oil and began testing clippings.
The stylist, Phil McCrory then invented a mat that soaked up the oil, called the OttiMat. Call your hair salons and see if they’re on board! For more information, visit Matter of Trust’s site.
