Organization Collects Hair For Oil Spill Cleanup
Hair Waste From Salons Helps With Spill Containment
Dec 20, 2008
Hundreds of millions of gallons of oil end up in the oceans each year. Each oil spill accident is devastating to the surrounding marine ecosystem for years. Beyond tanker accidents, there are other ways that oil ends up in our oceans. According to See The Sea Charitable Foundation in the online article "The Threat of Pollution and What You Can Do About It," large spill accidents only make up 37 million gallons dumped into the ocean, other events such as routine ship maintenance dump 137 million and drains and runoff contribute 363 million gallons of oil.
Oil Spill Cleanup
To help with oil spill cleanup, Matter of Trust, Inc., an ecological public charity, collects salon hair clippings and sends it to nonwoven needlepunch factories. These factories make hair mats that Matter of Trust uses for cleaning up oil spills. They also stuff this hair into recycled nylon stockings to make "booms" which help contain and soak up the oil spills, according to Matter of Trust, Inc. in the online article "Summaries of Our Natural Surplus Programs."
Human Hair for Bioremediation of Oil Spills
Matter of Trust got the hair mat idea from the OttiMat, the original hair mat invented by Phil McCory, a hair stylist from Huntsville, Alabama. In the worldresponsegroup.com article "OttiMat, the Natural Oil Spill Solution," McCory explains that "millions of pounds of human hair is cut every day and tossed into landfills or dumped into oceans." Using the hair mats for bioremediation of oil spills uses the hair constructively while reducing the amount of landfill waste.
Human hair is very efficient at collecting oil. It does not absorb oil. It adsorbs (or holds on to or clings to) the oil. According to the World Response Group, a polypropylene mat absorbs oil, the oil bonds to the material, and then the oil cannot be extracted. But hair mats adsorb the oil, sticking to the hair surface. Hair mats can also be wrung out and reused. "During an oil spill cleanup, up to 98% of the oil can be recovered. Each cubic foot collects 7.8 Gallon per 2 and half minute per use," states McCory in the World Response Group online article.
Hair Mats and a Closed Loop System
Matter of Trust is committed to applying a closed loop system to the hair mat oil spill clean up process. The organization researches ways the hazardous waste oil collected by the hair mats can be detoxified and the mats reduced to fertilizer.
Providing Jobs and Training
The organization also hopes to own a needlepunch machine in order to make their own hair mats. According to the organization, once they obtain a machine, they plan to provide jobs and training for at risk youth 18-22 years old transitioning out of foster care. Additionally, according to the Matter of Trust online article "Hair For Oil Spills Program," the organization is collaborating with The East Bay Depot For Creative Reuse and San Francisco Carpet Recycling to create a national hair recycling system.
