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Grand County salons participate in effort to clean up Gulf oil spill

Tonya Bina
Sky-Hi News
Grand County, CO Colorado

A haircut can help benefit the oil-threatened ocean life at the Gulf of Mexico.

At least two salons in Grand County have started collecting human hair clippings to send to an environmental nonprofit that makes absorbent booms, or hair mats, to help contain the oil spill.

The organization Matter of Trust is currently coordinating efforts worldwide to collect nylon stockings, human hair and animal hair, which will be placed in temporary warehousing along the Gulf coastline. Volunteers are building absorbent booms on-site by stuffing this donated hair into the donated nylon stockings, hoping to hold off the encroaching oil slick, according to statements Matter of Trust released on May 5.



Matter of Trust has helped clean up past oil spills, such as in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond by reusing donated hair clippings from hair salons, barber shops, pet groomers and wool farmers.

“Hair is porous so it can absorb water, but also holds in the oil, which makes it absorbent and organic for the oil-spill cleanup,” said hair stylist Victoria Jacobs of Shear Design, Granby, which has started collecting hair to send to Matter of Trust.



“It’s also a free resource,” Jacobs said.

The Winter Park Salon is another business that has started collecting hair for the organization.

Matter of Trust is already receiving donations from all 50 states and several other countries. Donations include many washed nylon pantyhose stockings, which they’ll accept even with small runs or tears.

Gulf Coast cities are heralding volunteers that are hosting “Boom B Q’s,” as they’re calling them, to assemble booms in their own backyards, according to Matter of Trust.

Other “hair-raising” events include “Cut-a-thons” and “Shave-a-thons.”

– Tonya Bina can be reached at 970-887-3334 ext. 19603 or e-mail tbina@skyhidailynews.com.


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