By Loyd Brumfield
lbrumfield@neighborsgo.com

Jensen, a hairstylist and the owner of Sweet 200 salon in Oak Cliff, enlisted with Matter of Trust, a green nonprofit organization that collects discarded hair, fur and nylons for booms to sop up oil spills.

“We just sent in a box that weighed four pounds that includes all the clippings except for the hair we donate to Locks of Love,” Jensen said.

Matter of Trust’s latest campaign comes in the wake of a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded and sank, killing 11 workers.

With an estimated 200,000 gallons of oil spewing into the gulf every day, according to news reports, industries from Louisiana to Florida are under severe threat.

The hair booms were developed by Alabama hairstylist Phil McCrory in 1989 when he wondered why rescuers had so much trouble removing oil from animal fur. He conducted an experiment using hair, his wife’s panty hose and an oil-filled baby pool. He found that the hair soaked up every drop of oil in a matter of minutes.

Matter of Trust began working with McCrory in 2000, developing hair booms and hair mats, said Lisa Gautier, founder of the San Francisco-based organization.

Hair is stuffed into recycled nylons (with mesh to provide a strong exterior). The booms are then tied together and used to encircle and contain oil spills.

“It is a cakewalk,” Jensen said of the hair collection process. “All we had to do was change out our trash cans to a hair-only receptacle and put a note on it that said ‘hair only.’”

Sweet 200 sent out an e-mail to all of its clients and also posted a note on Facebook about the collection drive, and the response has been overwhelming, Jensen said.

“And it is posted on all the trash cans that we put hair in, and from all of this other salons have asked us how to get involved,” she said.

Sweet 200 is also collecting nylons for use as booms. Anyone interested in donating can drop them off at the salon at 738 W. Davis St.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

• Sign up to Matter of Trust’s donor database program at ExcessAccess.org.

• Set aside a designated box (salons usually reuse a box in which shampoo was delivered)

• Line the box with a plastic garbage bag so hair/fur can’t slip out

• Ideally, donate shampooed hair (don’t include filthy hair or fur)

• Any length is fine

• Every type of hair is fine (straight, curly, all colors, dyed, permed, straightened, etc.), as long as it comes from a person’s head.

• Sweep in all clippings, but leave out everything that isn’t hair (gum, metal clips, paper cups, wrappers, etc.). Volunteers have to stuff this hair into booms and don’t want to feel garbage or anything sharp

• Tie the top of the bag and tape the box shut

• Washed and used nylon stocking donations are welcome, but include them in a separate bag

• Other natural fibers that are accepted include horse hair and feathers

• Mark the boxes DEBRIS FREE HAIR / FUR or NYLONS

Once you sign up to donate, you will be given a physical address to send your donation.

Loyd Brumfield is the Best Southwest neighborsgo editor and can be reached at lbrumfield@neighborsgo.com or 214-977-7686.