Can natural hair help clean the Gulf oil spill? BP doesn't think so.

We all know how oily hair can get if we go too long past “wash” day. For most, a week is the threshold, although some can go longer while some opt for every day cleansing. Whether you enlist a liquid shampoo, shampoo bar or “no poo” options, cleansing is a vital part in a healthy hair regimen because it clears the hair and scalp of product build up and its natural tendency to retain its own oils. Because hair is porous, it absorbs oil and other substances almost magically, which makes washing a must. Because of this seemingly magnetic phenomenon, husband and wife team Lisa and Patrice Gautier propose our hair can be used to help retard the spread of oil from the most recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico without placing more biochemical stress on the fragile ecosystem of the area.

Lisa and Patrice created the Matter of Trust charity in 1998 in order to “link ideas, spark action and materialize sustainable systems”, or in other words, create eco-friendly solutions to tragedies such as the Gulf oil spill. Lisa, a mother of three and an extensive volunteer of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation, and Patrice, Vice President of the iTunes Store & iPhone Apps Store Engineering, conceived the idea for MofT before becoming parents and saw their vision as a way to take care of the planet they would be leaving for their children as well as children worldwide. Through their charity they have facilitated various programs that help reuse manmade materials to cut down on waste, enlist natural resources to provide aid and products vital to our society, and help to provide eco-education for activist organizations and concerned citizens. In 2000, Matter of Trust developed the brilliant idea that mats made from human and animal hair, as well as other naturally absorbent fibers, could be used to help clean up the over 2,600 oil spills that occur each year. These EPA approved mats can be used to safely soak up oil spills from drip pans during your car’s routine oil changes, as well as help to contain threats to human and animal life forms from such occurrences as the Gulf oil spill. The mats themselves are invented and patented by hair stylist Phil McCrory and are manufactured by Ottimat for industrial use.

"You shampoo, because hair collects oil. Hair is very efficient at gathering oil, skin oils off your face, oil pollution out of the air, and water, even petroleum oil spills,” states a quote from McCrory that’s listed on the Matter of Trust Website. “Hair is absorbant (as in ‘clings to’ unlike [absorbent] which is to ‘soak up.’) There are over 370,000 hair salons in the US and each collects about one pound of hair a day. Right now, most of that goes into the waste stream, but it should all be made into hair mats."

So for the past ten years MofT has been collecting hair from donation sources all across the globe and the resulting hair mats are providing amazing demonstrations of just how effective the mats are in “cleaning” oil spills. The hair collected can be of any texture, length, color or state (permed or relaxed) as long as it is clean and free of debris. Many salons and barbershops are now participating in the program, providing hair donations in recycled from product orders. And when it comes to disposal of the oil soaked mats, a study was completed that showed the mat could be detoxified by thermophilic compost, broken down by common earthworms then returned to the Earth as fertilizer in just two years’ time.

Although this seems like a viable solution to help in this moment of national crisis, officials at British Petroleum and state and federal authorities are discounting the effectiveness of the hair mats and hair booms, stating they “won’t work well” in comparison to commercial sorbet booms made of polypropylene.

"There's currently no shortage of this sorbent boom in Louisiana and thus no need to consider the need for alternative products," stated Houston BP spokesman Mark Salt in an Associated Press article on the matter.

Concerns that the “wide spread deployment of hair booms” would add to the debris of the spill has been the Coast Guard's reasoning for not using the homespun tools, because unlike the commercial booms, hair absorbs both the oil and water while the commercial booms simply absorb the oil. However as demonstrations like Matter of Trust's have shown, the hair booms could be rung out and reused numerous times, releasing relatively clear water back into its source of origin. It’s not known how many times the commercial sorbet can be used. And in addition to the polypropylene sorbents, a chemical dispersant is being used to help “minimize” the spread, creating a more toxic soup that can possibly affect the water we use in our foods, drink and wash with. This is especially a concern for Columbus residents whose greatest supply of fresh water, The Great Lakes, is directly connected to the Gulf by way of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.

The refusal of BP and Coast Guard officials to use the hundreds and thousands of pounds of hair collected has many salon owners and citizens outraged. At first it seemed British Petroleum was willing to work with the Matter of Trust to see just how effective the hair booms would be, but then recanted on its offer. Matter of Trusts’ only statement on the matter has been that there was a misunderstanding on the part of British Petroleum in how the hair booms would and should be used. Although BP remains resistant to accept the hair booms as part of the solution, no matter how small, Matter of Trust is still stockpiling the hair donations in case BP changes its mind and feels it can use them. Presently Lisa and other members of the MofT staff are paying a visit to the Louisiana shoreline to test out oil containment ideas using the hair booms.

With many natural hair wearers contemplating BC’s for the summer months, using your lopped locks to provide a safe solution to the Gulf crisis is a great way to help repair some of the damage this tragedy has heaped onto an already fragile community and eco-system. Many speculate that the effects of this spill, and the chemical based efforts to contain it, will be long term and far reaching, effecting not just the states that line the Gulf, but the entire east coast. Even if it’s not used by BP, the hair donated can be used by Matter of Trust to conduct tests for reports that support its theory of just how efficient he hair booms can be. So if you’re considering a BC, or just need to find a way to dispose of your hair shed after washing and detangling, you might want to consider collecting it all and sending it in. Considering it was just going to be tossed out with the trash or washed down the drain anyway, why not put it to better use? If you go to a salon to get your hair styled, consider speaking with your stylist or the salon owner about participating in the campaign, which may send a message to BP and our federal authorities that we are willing to step up and become a part of a possible solution instead of leaving it in the hands of oil corporations that do not have our best interests at heart.

To find out how you can be a part of the program visit Matter of Trust’s Website at www.matteroftrust.org, and also check out the MofT Youtube channel which contains videos of their demonstrations -- including the one below of human and alpaca hair booms' efficiency compared to commercial booms -- and their work in the Louisiana area.