Human hair, as a free, efficient and inexhaustible resource, is becoming an important factor in cleaning the ocean.
At Pitch Barbershop in downtown San Francisco, barbers carefully gather up the trimmings and feed them into a felting machine at the Ecology Center next door. Before your eyes, your hair will be turned into something resembling tightly woven felt pads that will eventually be used to clean polluted water. That’s right, your old ponytail could help save a pelican.
Phil McCrory, a hairstylist from Huntsville, Alabama, washes a customer’s hair at his salon in 1989 while watching CNN coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. He knew that oil easily sticks to hair, so he wondered: What if human hair could be used to clean up oil spills? His salon happened to be near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and local scientists confirmed what the Environmental Protection Agency would later discover: Hair is an excellent oil-absorber. Each strand of hair can absorb three to nine times its weight in oil. Birds and furry marine mammals like otters are especially vulnerable to oil spills because their fur is porous; oil sticks to their feathers and fur.
McCrory’s idea sparked a worldwide movement. After trying various methods of making his own hair mats, he teamed up with the San Francisco-based nonprofit Matter of Trust in 1998. Together, they launched Clean Wave, a groundbreaking project that uses hair collected from salons, pet groomers, and even laundry residue to create fiber mats. “I was 23, and I naively thought, This is such a great idea—why hasn’t this caught on?” said Lisa Craig Gauthier, founder and president of Matter of Trust. A self-described workaholic with a “get-it-done” mindset, she reached out to Paul Newman, who invited her to Connecticut, and with the help of Newman’s attorney, Gauthier founded the nonprofit.
Today, there are 40,000 hair salons in the United States alone that donate hair clippings. “Every six weeks, you become a devoted listener to your hairdresser and enjoy his or her company for about 20 minutes,” said Gauthier, combing his dark brown hair. “So it’s also helpful in raising awareness about the issue.” Because human hair is a renewable resource, there is no shortage of it — in fact, there is a surplus. America’s 900,000 hair salons and 400,000 pet grooming salons remove about 3 pounds of hair or fur every day — a huge amount of natural fiber that ends up in trash bags and landfills. At the bright, airy San Francisco flagship, mail carriers deliver packages of hair clippings from 30 countries every day.
Matter of Trust hair pillows have been used in major oil spill cleanups, beginning in the Mazon Rainforest in Ecuador. Between 1964 and 1992, Texaco (now owned by Chevron) dumped more than 16 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and spilled millions of gallons of crude oil into the rainforest. In 2007, Matter of Trust volunteers responded to the Cuzco-Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay. In 2010, BP spilled 205 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, prompting an unprecedented response: Matters of Trust received 750,000 pounds of fiber in four days, filling 19 warehouses. The Environmental Protection Agency called it the largest grassroots mobilization ever, and Lisa Gauthier personally flew to the Gulf of Mexico twice to coordinate parts of the cleanup.
Two studies conducted at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia show that hair mats and oil booms absorb oil just as well as traditional solutions. “Traditional methods involve using chemical oil-based dispersants and synthetic absorbent booms, which essentially use oil to clean up oil. These methods are highly toxic. When a synthetic boom breaks down, the synthetic particles disperse into the environment. A hair boom only breaks down into natural fibers, so it’s more environmentally friendly,” said Gauthier. The hair pads can be washed and reused up to 10 times. “Wool mats also reduce the use of natural fibers in landfills, create sustainable green jobs, and clean up our waterways. It’s humanity’s solution to its own problems,” said Gauthier.
What happens to the soaked pads? “After a major oil spill, these hazardous materials end up in landfills or incinerated,” Gauthier said. “I don’t like landfills.” Matter of Trust has tried composting used mats and has had some success, using a variety of fungi, worms, and thermophilic bacteria to turn hazardous waste into useful compost. “After 18 months, we have great compost,” she said, “but it’s still a complex problem.”
Gauthier understands that some people are queasy at the thought of wet hair and greasy grease. “We affectionately call it the ‘serial killer’ site because there are always clumps of hair on our site,” she joked. But the eco-center is actually completely dry and clean. “We only do dry felt,” she said.
“What is this place?” asks a large banner at the entrance to the A Matter of Trust Ecocenter, followed by the answer: “Here you will discover the possibilities of clean air, clean water, clean energy, and perfect materials.” At the factory, volunteers, interns, and 23 full-time employees sort donations and feed the scraps into specialized needle-punching machines. The city of San Francisco supports the program, providing funding for seniors to participate. School classes have also come to attend and participate. The machines are about the size of a large office photocopier. “It’s a very simple, low-tech solution,” Gauthier said.
To create a Matter of Trust thick wig, the first step is to start with hair longer than 3 inches, then fill the wig tray with 2-inch or longer pieces. The organization donates the extra-long wigs to nonprofits that make wigs for patients, like the Little Princess Trust and Hair We Share in New York City. “Please don’t send us wigs that are below the neck!” Gaultier said, only half-joking.
The “trust issue” is no longer focused on large-scale oil spills, but on motor oil leaks into storm drains and on roads. “Fifty percent of water pollution comes from our streets,” Gauthier said. Mats or barriers made of wool can be placed around storm drains to act as natural filters, absorbing oil and trapping litter like cigarette butts. “It’s not very sexy, but it’s a solution for cities, bus depots, etc.”
The U.S. Air Force, for example, has been working with Matters of Trust since 2011 and recently ordered 300 more hair mats for use in a filtration project. “Hair power,” Gauthier joked, before turning serious: “You can even put these mats under your snow blower. They last a long time, up to two years or until they get completely wet.” Cities in Texas and New Mexico, as well as the Coast Guard, have already signed up to install the mats.
Gauthier’s vision is to have 300 satellite sites around the world “to avoid the staggering carbon footprint of transporting natural resources around the world.” There are currently 10 satellite sites located in Chile, Japan, Finland, Greece, the U.K., France, Belgium and Spain. “For example, Matter of Trust Chile has set up some amazing kiosks where people can charge their phones with recycled motorcycle batteries and donate their hair to charity at the same time,” Gauthier marvels. In Oklahoma, a husky rescue group is also getting involved. In rural areas, alpaca farms and sheep shearers also donate excess wool. “People are always asking what they can do,” Gauthier said. “This is something everyone can contribute to.”
Other companies have also built their own networks. In Canada, Green Circle salons collect hair from 16,000 “waste warriors.” In France, hair salon Coiffeurs Justes has collected 40 tons of hair from 3,200 salons since 2015. They placed the hair in pantyhose containers for use at ports on the French Riviera and at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. They realized that the fences were also soaking up sunscreen from lakes and swimming pools. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), between 6,000 and 10,000 tons of sunscreen pollute waterways every year and can harm marine life.
Gauthier is now also trying to use the hairy solution to prevent soil erosion. “The carotid arteries slowly release nitrogen into the soil, acting as a fertilizer. Insects and snails don’t like to crawl on them. The best part is that rainwater passes through them but stops evaporation, preventing soil erosion,” she explains.
Dr. Michaela Haas is a contributing editor for Reasons to be Cheerful. She is an award-winning author and solutions journalist whose most recent books include Lean In: The Art and Science of Building Resilience (Atria Press). Visit www.michaelahaas.com
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