No this post is not about Johnny Rotten;) I know many of you have grown your hair and donated it for cancer wigs, but did you know your regular trim could help the environment? Let me introduce you to the Hair for Oil Spills program.
We all know we shampoo our hair because it gets greasy, but it took Phil McCrory, a stylist from Alabama, to make the jump and realize that hair was an efficient and abundant material for collecting and containing petroleum spills. While watching CNN coverage on the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, Phil noticed the fur on the Alaskan otters completely soaked with oil. This gave him the idea that hair could be a massive absorbing material. He began testing with the hair clippings from his salon which lead to the invention of the hairmat.
Phil says - "You shampoo your hair because it gets greasy. Hair is very efficient at collecting oil out of the air, off surfaces like your skin and out of the water, even petroleum oil. Hair is adsorbant (as in "clings to" unlike absorbant which is to "soak up.") There are over 370,000 hair salons in the US and each collects about 1 pound of hair a day. Right now, most of that goes into the waste stream, but it should all be made into hairmats." (see pictures of mats used in SF Oil Spill).
According to Matter of Trust.org, "The US has over 300,000 hair salons and each cuts an average of a pound of hair per day. Salons generously pay out of pocket for postage to send their swept up hair clippings to our donated warehouse spaces. We do the fundraising for this program and outreach through placing our posters in participating salons and with the help of the press." Individuals and schools can donate human hair.
Pet hair from grooming salons (although not as effective as human hair) and used nylons can also be donated for use in the clean up process. Hair is stuffed into used nylons which are then used as booms to soak up the oil.
Phil also found that "hair is also great fertilizer with a slow nitrogen and karetin protein release. Hair prevents weed growth, snail infestation and reduces water evaporation up to 50%. Patent owners, Phil McCrory and our friends at SmartGrow, manufacture hairmats in China. These are for flower growers and farmers who use hairmat strips for commercial rows and in rounds for flower pots."
So next time you head in for a trim, take this info to your salon. What a great way to go green! A win for you and your salon owner.
--till next week restore, refresh, recycle, renew
10 comments:
This is actually really convenient, I was just on the phone with my salon at home to schedule a haircut. I was in Environmental Science in high school and we did an intense case study on the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the damage done to the region was incredible. I am definitely forwarding this to my high school teacher to hopefully spread the word even more. Although it is a gross concept, the hairmat is extremely innovative and seemingly useful with its uses in farming as well as oil spills. I am definitely going to ask my stylist what her salon does with the hair when I go for my haircut now!
This is Crazy! Last week for a case study in Public Relations I was actually researching and writing about the Exxon Valdez oil spill and how harmful the spill was. I would never imagine that excess human hair could really make a difference! I've been debating on whether or not to go for a haircut this week or not and I think now knowing of this hairmat I am eager to tell my stylist about it and hopefully bring the salon onboard to donate. Last year I donated 11" to Pantene Beautiful Lengths for women with cancer and I was so traumatized after cutting off all my hair!! Its crazy to realize that after just getting a trim and making sure those few inches go in the proper waste I could really be making a difference too. This is a great invention and I can't wait to put a good word in with my hair salon!
I think this is so awesome. I really respect this guy for trying to find an alternate use for something that just gets thrown away, especially something like cut off hair that no one would think of using! The fact that it's going to something as extreme to clean up as oil spills makes it even better. It's crazy to think that 1 pound of hair is collected per day in over 300,000 salons! If we could collect all of that hair it would really help to clean up the landfills as well because I'm sure that it takes quite a bit of time for that to biodegrade and disappear. I am definitely going to pass the word along to all my friends and my salon.
The whole idea is very unique and thoughtful, and I do think that all Salons should start taking part on this immediately. However, it does gross me out a bit to know that a rug I may be placing my feet on is made from the scraps of random individuals hair remnants. This blog entry really made me wonder what do they actually do with the hair, where does it go and what is it being used for?
This mat is super rad! If every salon in the States could get on board with this awesome idea it sure could do a lot of good. I almost feel like it should be mandatory for hair salons to do this. Why not, right? If people aren't going to start to give back or make small steps in their lifestyles to help the environment, laws are going to have to be made. So why make "the man" make laws, lets just do it!
Spread the WORD!
I think that this is a really great idea! I don't think it would be hard to get salons to donate the hair at all because they have to get rid of it one way or another. Also, I know that the salon I go to has a lot of eco-friendly products that they use so they are conscious about the environment and I think they would be interested in another way they can help out. I think it is so great that this man did this experiment and found a helpful alternative for something that normally is just total waste and isn't reused.
I wish I would've read this article two days earlier because I went to get my haircut on Friday!
This is a really interesting idea! recently did a lot of Philadelphia salon reviews for the place I work for a there are a lot of eco friendly salons in the area that would probably be interested in this. Is there a list of salons that that do this? There should be.
Personally, I donate my hair at about once a year to Locks of Love and will probably do that for the rest of my life, but I would get my trims at a salon who participated in this if there was one in my area (walking distance of course.)
I think this is a great idea. Even though it's alittle gross to think about, the concept is a good one. It's a great way to recycle something that gets thrown away on a regular basis. After looking at the site, it's interesting to see that the hairmat can also be used to catch the oil under your car or in storm drains, so the product has more than one use. It's great to see someone thinking about alternative uses for things that no one really thinks about, like hair clippings!
This is such a great idea! Who would have thought that hair clippings could be so valuable? My aunt is a hairdresser and always does Locks of Love and other hair donations, but I think she will really be happy to learn about this. She is really into the green movement and I am sure she will have her salon involved in this hair donating in no time. Even though hair is one thing that grosses me out, I believe if it helps we should do it. I would love for my hair clippings to go into a cause like this one. I also believe that salons would have no problem mailing in hair clippings that would normally be thrown away. Phil deserves a lot of credit for putting research into this matter because I think his efforts will really make a difference.
Cutting hair for a worthy cause is a plus
Post a Comment