With 210,000 gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico after the April 10 explosion of Transocean Ltd.’s oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, numerous unsuccessful techniques have been employed to curtail the spreading of the black liquid. However, the Associated Press recently reported a preventative measure that appears to be working.
After three weeks of failed attempts, engineers connected a mile-long tube from an oil tanker to a 21-inch pipe using submersible robots. The pipe is a mile underwater, and the engineers say it will take days to figure out how much oil is being captured.
However, locals here are using other, less complicated methods to assist in the battle against the invading black ooze. Donato’s Hair Salon, located near the intersection of Carson Street and Orange Avenue, is currently supporting the effort to clean up the Gulf’s contaminated waters by collecting its clients’ severed hair, which will be sent to the Gulf via Matter of Trust, a nonprofit organization that seeks to “link ideas, spark action and materialize sustainable systems,” according to its website.
Donato’s Hair Salon owner Leah Farris said she had heard about the operation years ago but did not think about participating in it until the recent explosion on the platform in the Gulf. Farris said it would be a waste to throw away a potentially recyclable resource that could help out in the Gulf’s clean-up process. “The oil naturally goes to the hair. It can be human hair, dog hair, fur, animals’ fur, or any other kind of hair,” Farris said. She is close to filling her first large box of hair and sending it to the Gulf.
In addition to collecting hair, Farris is also taking donations of panty hose, which she said have been harder to come by. “Nobody uses those old pantyhose anymore. I have a lot of them, but not too many people have contributed the nylons,” she said. “Once the word gets out, we can really go to town with this.” Hoping to increase donations, Farris has also reached out to LaunderPet, the neighboring animal-grooming business.
Eric Hatch, owner of LaunderPet, said he will start collecting pets’ fur this week. “I’d say we could have up to 30 cuts a day across the three stores.” There are two LaunderPet locations in Long Beach and one in Seal Beach. “We’ll probably just have our hands full with the hair,” he said. “If people wanted to drop nylons by the store, we would certainly take them too.”
Farris said she will take the lead in sending the collected fur to Matter of Trust when the time comes. When she does send her full box of hair, it will go to any of 15 locations along the Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida coasts that will assemble the nylons and hair into useable booms. According to the Matter of Trust website, thousands of people are volunteering to host and attend stocking-stuffer parties and barbecues (which are becoming known as boom-becues).
Although hair might not typically be thought of as an effective adsorbent of oil (an adsorbent sticks to things, whereas an absorbent soaks up), it is for that very reason that people wash their hair. Throughout the day, hair collects natural oils that the skin produces, in addition to oils in the air. Shampooing strips those oils from the hair.
The project aimed at cleaning up the spill, the Hair for Oil Spills Program, uses the adsorbent nature of hair to its advantage by stuffing nylons, which are then connected to create oil-absorbing booms.
There are 260,000 oil spills each year that collectively release 726 million gallons. According to statistics provided by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Smithsonian Institute, there is not a lack of demand for hair booms, since the damaged Deepwater Horizon platform is still spitting out 210,000 gallons of crude oil a day. With 300,000 pounds of hair and fur that are cut daily in the U.S., there is a lot of clean-up potential in those clippings.
Nylon and hair donations can be made at Donato’s Hair Salon, 4102 Orange Ave., Suite 114. The salon can be reached at (562) 428-4000. LaunderPet is in Suite 113 and can be reached at (562) 427-2551.
More Information
matteroftrust.org
