Human Hair Mats Can Be Used To Mop Up Oil Spills From Oceans & Roads
Matter of Trust president Lisa Gautier (right) with Phil McCrory, the hairdresser who invented the oil-absorbing hair mat. Image via Matter of Trust
Your hair may serve to keep your head warm, but when it falls off, it could fulfill a different purpose for the wider planet.
San Francisco-based eco charity Matter of Trust, in fact, collects hair to make mats and long tubes, called booms, to sponge up oil spills on land and in water.
Image via Matter of Trust
The organization receives hair snippings from salons, pet groomers, and people each day.
It then inspects the strands for dirt, lice, and debris, before sorting them out and putting the hair through a special felting machine at its San Francisco warehouse.
As CNN reports, oil spills on land are typically cleared with non-biodegradable plastic mats that are discarded after one use.
In 1989, however, one American hairdresser by the name of Phil McCrory had the idea of dabbing oil using fallen tresses. He worked with Matter of Trust to develop the hair mats and booms.
NASA tested the felted products and approved of their effectiveness.
Image via Matter of Trust
500 grams of hair goes into each mat measuring two square feet and an inch thick, enough to pick up as much as 1.5 gallons of oil.
It’s a great alternative for the usual oil spill-cleaning materials because human hair is a naturally renewable resource—since you keep growing it. The charity says human hair can also absorb five times its weight in oil. Plus, hair is accessible anywhere.
“Oil gets into our waterways from spills, leaky vehicles, chemicals dumped into storm drains, accidents, [and so on],” says Matter of Trust on its website. “These mats are very sturdy and can be driven over by trucks and ski equipment. They can survive the elements and are hydrophobic.”
Previously, we featured a hair-raising donation drive in which pubes were collected by Matter of Trust to make these hair mats.
While its appeal for donations is now focused on head hair, the charity is still accepting donations from all parts of the world.
[via Jalopnik and CNN, images via Matter of Trust]
