Hair and nylons join forces to hold back oil slick

ONE day it was the flowing locks on a client’s head; the next it was being stuffed in women’s nylons and on its way to help soak up the oil that has begun to wash ashore on the US Gulf Coast.

People from around the world have been giving the hair off their heads, the fur off their pets’ backs, and the tights off their legs to make booms and mats to mop up the oily mess spewing out of the sunken BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

“People from France, England, Spain, Brazil, Australia, all over Canada and the United States have signed up,” Lisa Gautier, co-founder of the Matter of Trust charity which links up recycled goods – like hair – with causes that need them, and is coordinating the collection of hair, fur and tights for the oil slick.

“There are 370,000 hair salons sending hair, 100,000 pet groomers, alpaca and sheep farmers, and the other day we had a huge group of transvestites, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who donated their very long nylons,” Gautier said.

US nationwide pet supplies chain Petco joined the effort as oil began to wash ashore on Louisiana’s beaches.

“We have nearly 1,000 grooming salons across the country and think we can ship up to a ton of fur a day. We can make a real difference with this,” Petco spokeswoman Brooke Simon said.

Matter of Trust are getting some 450,000 pounds (204,000kgs) of hair or fur coming in every day and 50 people or companies signing up every minute.

“All the countries that do not have a natural fibre recycling system are looking at this and responding. Our phones are blowing out,” said Gautier.

At the Michael Angelo Hair Studio in Tampa, on the Florida Gulf Coast to the east of the oil slick, staff are sweeping up all the hair clippings that fall on the floor each day, boxing them up and sending them to one of 15 warehouses where the hair will be made into absorbent booms or mats to sop up the oil.

Volunteers take the hair and stuff it into nylon stockings which are tied together and covered in plastic mesh netting to make an absorbent boom to soak up the oil.

These are not the same as the large booms that are being laid in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Those aim to contain the oil as it heads towards the coast and the fragile wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, whereas the hair- and fur-filled booms will be laid on beaches, where they will soak up any oil.