Gulf Spill Hair Boom Program
2010-present
A huge International Natural Fiber Recycling mobilization is currently taking place to help get hair boom to the Gulf Coast Spill. We have 19 donated warehouses spread along Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida that are receiving hair from donors all over the US, Canada and beyond! There are thousands of volunteers signing up to have Stocking Stuffers and Bar B Q parties where they're making the boom. They're calling them Boom B Qs.
Links:
INSTRUCTIONS PAGE
PHOTOS 2
YouTube on How Hair Collects Oil
YouTube on How To Make A Boom
YouTube on Hair Boom Soaks Up Oil
YouTube - Have a Boom B Q
Oil
Spill Hair Mats
2000-present
"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. Hair is
adsorbant (as in "clings to" unlike absorbant which
is to "soak up.") There are over 370,000 hair salons in the US
and each collects about 1 pound of hair a day. Right now, most of that goes
into the waste stream, but it should all be made into hairmats." - Phil
McCrory, inventor and stylist.
Salons
are generously mailing in hair clippings to us and excited about this
program and cleanup of oil spills. For more information and Instructions.
Salons are sweeping up their hair clippings into plastic garbage bags, reusing the large boxes they
get from shampoo deliveries and mailing us the hair.
As well as for emergency oil spills, the mats are extremely efficient for drip pans
during oil changes or under leaky cars, machinery, pipelines, even as booms
for storm drains... See our YouTubes and Demo.
Hair can also be stuffed into tubes (booms) made from recycled nylons, tied together to surround and contain a spill. See Photos and Posters. Also, inventor Phil McCrory and patent owners, our friends at Ottimat.com, purchase hair and manufacture hairmats in China for industrial quantities. Their mats have been EPA approved and NASA & P.2 tested. Their hair mats are also great fertilizer with a slow nitrogen
and karetin protein release. Hair prevents weed growth, snail infestation and reduces water
evaporation up to 50%. They would like to create green jobs and make mats in the US if the fiber collection can be organized for the textile manufacturers to make it affordable.
Bioremediation Field Study
Thomas Azwell monitors thermophilic composting
Currently, Thomas Azwell is continuing research at UC Berkeley to elaborate on the oil remediation Presidio study by identifying the microbial mechanisms and refining the protocol for remediation. The ultimate goal is to develop an effective bioremediation method that is low-cost, time efficient, utilizes local waste materials and resources and is replicable in diverse climates for dissemination across both ecologic and economic borders.
For more information on vermiculture, castings and Worm Poop Fertilizer contact Ryan Carney at G-Rock.
Sun
Train Feasibility Study
2006 - Present
Total Budget: $25,000
Natural Surplus = Sunlight / Solar Power
MofT is the fiscal agent for the clean energy, solar train tracks feasibility
study in partnership with Sun Train USA. This is a long-term collaborative
project that involves gathering several experts and researching benefits
of train systems and installation of solar panels on rails.
Algae Blooms Used Biodiesel Production Feasibility Study
2006 - Present
MofT General Fund
Natural Surplus = Algae
MofT is the coordinator of this program which unites Humboldt University,
Biofuels, Native American Fisheries and the University of Hawaii. This is
a long-term project with the mission of researching the benefits of collecting
the suffocating algae blooms in the ocean and using the lipids for biodiesel.
Oily Hairmat Bioremediation - SF Bay Area Treatability Study - Phase II - COMPLETED
2008 - 2009
Thomas Azwel holds handful of busy worms making fertilizer out of oil waste.
After oil from a spill is collected with booms and absorbents, the standard method of disposal is incineration or landfill disposal. In an effort to avoid the environmental degradation associated with these two options, Thomas Azwell from UC Berkeley, designed a process of bioremediation to safely process oil. Because hair mats are an organically-based material, we are able to utilize natural technologies for remediation.
In 2008, Thomas Azwell, Ryan Carney and G-Rock an environmental consulting group, launched an experiment, fiscally sponsored by Matter of Trust, at the Presidio Park using microbial inoculants, thermophilic and vermi-composting methods. The experiment successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of a natural process to reduce the toxicity to environmentally safe levels.
Hazardous waste oil was collected by mats made from human hair clippings then blended with greenwaste. The waste was detoxified by thermophilic composting, microbial innoculants and finally ingested and processed by worms. The end result is a rich worm castings fertilizer. This 2 year project is a practical, hands on study to further the cause of efficient closed loop systems for oil spill clean up. There was a control study done at Norman Terry's Lab at UC Berkeley that paralleled this Presidio study.
Oily-Hairmat-Remediation-
SF Bay Area Treatability Study - Phase I - COMPLETED
2007 - 2008
MofT General Fund
Natural
Surplus = Human Hair, Mushrooms
Matter of Trust orchestrated a treatability study of hazardous
waste oil collected by mats made from human hair clippings and the Presidio of San Francisco provided us with a space to research it's remedation. Paul Stamets of Fungi.com donated his oyster mushrooms and expertise to the project. For more information see details and photo galleries and Phase II.
Oily-Hairmat Remediation Research - COMPLETED
2002 - 2008
MofT General Fund
Natural
Surplus = Hair, Mushrooms, Fungi, Mold
Matter of Trust and Fungi.com joined forces to research if once hair soaks
up oil, mushrooms can eat the oily hair and detoxify the waste to create
landscape grade compost. See
photos and documentation
Part I: "You shampoo your hair because it gets greasy. Hair is very
efficient at collecting oil out of the air, off surfaces like your skin
and out of the water, even petroleum oil. Hair is
adsorbent (as in "clings to" unlike absorbent which
is to "soak up.") There are over 320,000 hair salons in the US
and each collects about 1 pound of hair a day. Right now, most of that goes
into the waste stream, but it should all be made into hair mats." Phil
McCrory, inventor and barber (more
info).
Part
II: Fungus (mushrooms):
"The roots of mushrooms, called mycelium (http://www.fungi.com/info/sems/index.html),
produce enzymes that unlock wood fibers, which are composed of strings of
carbon-hydrogen molecules in the form of cellulose and lignin. Similarly
oil and most petroleum products are held together by similar molecular
bonds. This studies if mushroom mycelium breaks these bonds, and then re-constructs
the oil into carbohydrates, fungal sugars, that make up the mushroom's physical
structures." Paul Stamets, Fungi.com
San
Francisco Bay Area Cosco-Busan Oil Spill Eco-Cleanup With Hairmats - COMPLETED
2007- 2008
MofT
General Fund
Natural
Surplus = Hair, Fur, Wool
Volunteer Byron Cleary showing hairmat with many oil dollops
on Baker's Beach, San Francisco, CA, November 9, 2007
On November 7, 2007 a cargo ship named Cosco-Busan accidently hits the San
Francisco Bay Bridge and spills 58,000 gallons of Bunker C fuel. Within
48 hours hundreds of concerned citizens pour onto Bay Area beaches and start
soaking up oily blobs using mats made from human hair clippings. (see
hairmat program)
Matter of Trust joined forces with surfers banding together to form a grassroots
volunteer grassroots cleanup crew called "Kill the Spill." See
our Beach cleanup details and Beach
cleanup photo gallery.
Veggie
Van.org - COMPLETED
2003 - 2009
Total Raised: $24,813.95
Direct Program Expenses: $23,573.25 = 95%
Natural Surplus = vegetable oil (including recycled restaurant grease)
MofT was the fiscal agent for Veggie Van.org where Josh Tickell, Founder, recycles used vegetable grease
from restaurants and turns it into biodiesel. He showed us how we can reduce
dependence on petroleum and has driven his biodiesel van across the United
States filling up his tank with used french fry grease from McDonalds and
the like. He is the author of "From
The Fryer To The Fuel Tank," widely considered to be the bible
for biodiesel. MofT is proud to also be the fiscal sponsor for Josh's full-length documentary "Fields of Fuel" (see
our edo-educational programs). This film is based on his most recent
book, "Biodiesel
America". As of Apri 2009 Veggie Van has received its own public charity status.
SFE Biodiesel For MUNI Feasibility Study with CytoCulture
- COMPLETED
2005-2006
Total Raised: $23,650
Direct Program Expenses: $21,723.50 = 90%
Natural Surplus = Vegetable Oil (including recycled restaurant grease) and
algae
MofT is the fiscal agent for the San Francisco Environment Biodiesel for
MUNI research project. The goal is to have the entire San Francisco bus
fleet running on B20 (20% biodiesel 80% regular diesel) by the end of the
first quarter 2007.
Biodiesel Project For Oakland, Calfornia School Busses
- COMPLETED
2003 Spring Semester
MofT General Fund
Natural Surplus = Vegetable oil (including recycled restaurant french fries
grease)
Oakland
school busses proactively reduced their exhaust pipe emissions thanks to
Michael's Transportation Services leading the trend towards using a biodiesel
blend. Less pollution means healthier kids.
Biodiesel, which can be made from soybeans, sunflowers, algae and recycled
restaurant fryer fat, has lower emissions than diesel exhaust. “The
use of biodiesel, even at a 5% blend, eases the energy markets in the direction
of sustainability," said Carol Misseldine, Sustainability Consultant
to the City of Oakland.
One barrier to the widespread use of biodiesel is that it costs more than
diesel. One way that barrier is being addressed is that restaurants are
signing up to recycle their fryer grease for local school busses. Prices
are also dependent upon buyer volume.
In order for this project to work, MofT has coordinated a Biodiesel Collaborative.
Participants include City staff, biodiesel suppliers, distributors, and
fleet managers who want to reduce the environmental impact of their fleets.
One intention of the Collaborative is to create the volume necessary to
bring the price down.
Future Collaborative participants, including the County of Marin and the
City of Oakland, are considering moving in the direction of biodiesel use
as well. The City of Berkeley has already had programs using 100% biodiesel
for their city fleets.
Golden Gate Petroleum, All-Points Petroleum and Imperial Western Products
(IWP) are Collaborative participants providing the biodiesel to Michael’s
Transportation for the Oakland School Buses.
Note: This program was terminated when the Oakland School District
filed for bankruptcy. Even though the District was unable to pay the final
invoices for the biodiesel, Michael's Transportation Services (MTS) honored
their agreement to the project and took a loss, providing cleaner fuel to
the school kids for the remainder of the semester. It is a real pleasure
to have worked with the team at MTS and we look forward to future projects
when the school budgets are ready.
Note: Update 5 years later: July 2008, petroleum prices have skyrocketed. Biodiesel is now cheaper than regular diesel. Algae is clearly the most ecological source of biodiesel for the transition in diesel dominent trucking and deveoping countries. New alternative electric and compressed air cars are hitting the developed countries' markets.