Hair is THE most efficient material for absorbing oil -- that's why we have to wash it so often!
Mats of human (and pet) hair, which naturally act as a sponge to absorb oil from air and water are being used with oil spills, plant nurseries and more.
In the recent California oil spill, the hair mats were used to soak up the oil, and then volunteers added mushrooms, which absorb the oil over a 12-week period to turn the hair mats into nontoxic compost.
Hair salons generously send their swept up hair clippings to a recycling depot in California provided by St. Vincent de Paul's, and this partnership program combines reuse, micro-economy and ecological oil spill clean up. Salons have free access to the Excess Access database which catalogs the postage donations and emails receipts for the recycled hair donations.
There are over 370,000 hair salons in the US and each cut about one pound of hair a day! Matter of Trust does the outreach for the program through posters in salons and media PR. Posters also are also available that include information about how hair is also a slow protein release and excellent fertilizer for flower growers. For more information on hair as fertilizer please see Smart Grow.
This information was found here.
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