Barbers, Hairstylists and Professional Groomers, YOU Can Help Clean Up the Gulf Oil Spill COLLECT Hair Cuttings!

By now, I'm sure you have heard about the Gulf Oil Spill Crisis, and if you're like me, you are ANGRY! Rather than just reacting to the situation out of frustration, I am calling all of you wonderful Barbers, Hairstylists, and professional Groomers to ACTION!  I also urge Cosmetology Schools and Barber Schools to join in this effort! Believe it or not WE can help in a unique way most citizens can't, so I am calling on you to do so now.  Simply, collect the hair clippings from your shop, salon, spa, or school in a clean plastic bag and place in a recycled box.  Make sure there is no garbage amongst the hair.  I will give you details later on where to send the clippings but for now, start collecting!

"Alabama hairstylist Phil McCrory first stumbled upon the discovery of how well hair absorbs oil spills when he observed that fur on Alaskan otters was fully saturated with oil after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. After experiments to see how much oil he could sop up with hair clippings, he invented the hairmat to effectively clean up oil-spilled waters."  Thank you to Stylelist.com  "Matter of Trust is now raising funds to buy their own needlepunch machines in order to make the oil relief hair supplies at their California-based headquarters. The company says that doing so will also create many jobs and educational training for California citizens."

These Hair Matts have been used to aid in the clean-up of numerous oil spills and have been shown to be VERY effective.



Visit Matter of Trust for more information. Matter of Trust, a non-profit organization, Conceived in 1998, by Lisa Craig Gautier and her husband, Patrice Olivier Gautier collects these human and animal hair clippings and makes them into Hair Matts.  These Hair Matts as shown in the above video, soak up the oil but releases the water, cleaning up the environment naturally. It is estimated that a hair salon can collect up to 5 pounds of human hair in one day so get your brooms, bags, and boxes ready for that hair and help the environment today!

These requirements for business donations comes directly from the Matter of Trust website:

Sign up on Matter of Trust website to donate

- NEXT, set aside a designated box (salons usually reuse a box in which shampoo was delivered)


- line the box with a plastic garbage bag

- ideally, donate shampoed hair

- any length is fine

- every type of hair is fine (straight, curly, all colors, dyed, permed, straightened...) but only HEAD hair, please!

- sweep in all hair clippings, JUST HAIR, but please NO other garbage (gum, metal clips, paper cups, wrappers...)

- tie the top of the bag and tape the box shut

- we also accept washed, used (even with runs) nylon stocking donations in a separate bag, please.

- we also accept other "natural fibers" such as dog fur from groomers, horse hair, feathers, waste wool... again, please, no other garbage or contaminants in with the hair/fur/ wool fibers...
 
Before sending a donation you must sign up on their site as a Individual or Business Donor.  They have posters that you can post at your place of work telling the general public how you are helping the environment, for a one time charge, or fliers for individuals to disperse that are free.  Let's get busy and show them what kind of that people in our industry care!

Dani