EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) – As crews try to fix an oil pipe gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the tri-state is getting involved in the cleanup efforts.
Stylists at Shannon Aleksandr’s are sweeping up– and saving– every little bit of hair they trim off.
They say it’s perfect for cleaning up the oil that threatens the U.S. gulf coast.
“Hair naturally attracts oil from our scalp, it attracts it from the environment,” says owner Shannon Woolsey. “And it will attract it out of the ocean.”
Volunteers with the “Matter of Trust” organization will stuff hair into pantyhose.
‘Each leg of pantyhose will collect, I don’t know, three or four gallons of oil, and then they take that, compost it with oyster mushrooms, and it will turn back into soil within a year.”
But can human hair really make a dent in the millions of gallons that have spilled into the gulf since an oil rig explosion?
Woolsey says it’s worth a shot.
“Normally we throw the hair away, so it goes into a landfill… does nothing. “
Salons all over the country– even the world– have joined in.
According to the “matter of trust” website… About 500 thousand pounds have been sent so far.
Hair from this salon won’t be shipped for about a month. In the meantime, Woolsey is hoping others will pitch in.
“We’re collecting from anybody, any salons, nylons from anybody. And I’ll pay for the shipping and send it.”
Other tri-state salons are getting involved. Jema Watts wrote on our Facebook page that “nearly 100% of beauty salons in Tell city and Cannelton, in are participating in the matter of trust program,” and that “two other businesses are collecting nylons and tights for the same cause.”
In a disaster wreaking havoc on nature, it seems nature could also hold part of the cure.
Here are some other salons that say they are collecting hair for the gulf:
Shine Total Image Salon at Marywood Drive and Highway 41
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