Monday, May 24, 2010

Would you donate your hair to clean up oil spills?

This is a repost of a Q & A over at Grist.org


Q. Dear Umbra,

I’ve heard that
people are donating their hair to help the oil cleanup of the Gulf Coast. I’m
an old-school hair farmer, and I want to know if it’s harvest time for a good
cause. What do you think?


If it’s a good
idea, then to whom do I send my bountiful harvest?


Hair Today, Gone
Tomorrow (to a good cause)
Seattle


A. Dearest
HTGT,

Props to
you for your willingness to donate your locks for this hairy situation. And
have I got the organization for you: Matter of Trust.

The
organization, known for its oil spill hair mats, is collecting
nylons, human hair, and animal fur to create hair booms to place in the water
to collect oil. Here’s a great article from The Washington Post explaining the
effort and its progress.

It’s
important to note, though, that the oil spill has gotten way too massive to think
that this approach can necessarily fix everything, but the grassroots effort
has finally gotten BP’s notice—the company contacted Matter of Trust last week.

You can
donate your own hair, animal fur, and nylons by signing up for Matter of
Trust’s Excess Access database and then
following the instructions for sending in
your hair harvest.

Thanks
again, HTGT. Every little bit helps.

Shornly,
Umbra

2 comments:

wendyytb said...

I have heard that Hay works as well...

Tony R. said...

I bet it would too. I wonder why there aren't big donation drives going on right now to help block the oil from damaging the beaches and marsh lands