Human Hair Mats Clean Oil Spills. Why Don't Big Companies Use Them? | World Wide Waste

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Human Hair Mats Clean Oil Spills. Why Don't Big Companies Use Them? | World Wide Waste

[DrFarisArab]

My jaw dropped when I saw how hair sucked the oil. Kudos for innovation

[theyeagers]

The fact they didn't want to renew the patent because they wanted the world to be able to use their idea to help them. Just wow, that's true humanitarian work right there. Bless them all.

[classicredwine]

I just went to their site to donate my hair and it looks like they aren’t taking many donations right now due to being at capacity at their warehouses which is fantastic news! Thank you Insider for highlighting this company:)

[annecelinelalanne]

In 2020 in Mauritius, there was an oil tanker which sunk with on board hundred of tons of oil and all the mauritians united to donate their hair to be able to trap the maximum of fuel spilled in the sea. About 75% of the oils were collected with brooms made with hair and straw. This was incredible

[pipisdiyartandcrafts]

I was a hairstylist for 10 years (2001-2011) and NEVER heard of this!! Soo much hair went in the trash that could have been recycled!!!! What an amazing thing! I hope they figure out how to make it really work long term! This is truly innovative!

[BrittanyUkes]

Isn’t it amazing to see how he noticed that the hair on the otters absorbed the oil and related it to how we shampoo to get rid of the oil in our hair? This realization of how what’s in front of us can inspire great innovations that help the environment for years to come.

[milalovesmae]

I work in a salon and we use sustainable salons where we can recycle or sustainability dispose all parts of what we use in the salon (foils, hair, chemicals etc). We always collect the hair in a separate bin and send it off. I knew it cleaned oil spills but didn't know the details, so this was so incredibly interesting to watch and see the process. I actually didn't know how effective hair was at soaking up the oil! I feel so proud to belong to a salon that made the choice to be a part of this movement

[fildyb]

"safer at the bottom of the ocean than on shorelines" this is the definition of sweeping a problem under the rug.

[laernulienlaernulienlaernu]

What a great idea and what's even greater is she seems like she's genuinely doing it for the good of the planet, not her bank balance. Also, respect to all the people chopping off their hair to donate.

[seigedrakonera]

I just showed this to my uncle and he's thrilled. He works at a huge repair shop/scrap parts lots not too far from major waterways an the sea, so he has been wanting to find ways to keep all the oil from going into the gutters every time it rains. This is really a neat idea that definitely deserves more funding.

[thebone]

This is how eco-friendly innovation should be. It might not be the best as synthetic but over time hopefully we can get it close or better than synthetic

[joshs]

Boy this video really is a rollercoaster of emotions. On the one hand people suck and the oil going into the ocean every year is horrifying. But at the same time we have people like this trying to do what they can to help

[disharibera]

The fact that she decided against renewing the expired patent, shows how dedicated she is in turning this into a mass mobilizing effort, irrespective of boundaries and state lines. We are destroying the environment, and it's admirable to see people rising above petty politics, in order to account for the damage (no matter the scale) that we, as a species, are responsible for (knowingly, or unknowingly).

[ryanbrown]

When there's a spill, oil companies are fined based on how much oil is spilled. If you clean up the oil with mats like this, you can measure, pretty precisely, how much oil is cleaned up. But if the companies spray dispersants (soap), then the oil disperses and is hard to quantify. They pay less in fines.

[devanbrowne]

I like how the guy first said the hair booms were a bad idea because they would sink to the ocean floor and then be impossible to retrieve, and then went on to explain how they used a toxic spray to force a bunch of oil to sink to the ocean floor and then never retrieve it.

So what was the problem with the booms again?

[Ploppity]

When she says “clean incineration, ” theres no such thing. Burning the oil stored in the hair mats are just going to release all those harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.

Instead, they need to use mushrooms — there are certain fungi species that break down oil and recycle the chemicals to create healthy soil. See Paul Stamet’s research.

It’s a great initiative to clean up the oil with hair, but the disposal process also needs equal ingenuity. Of course, the most sustainable solution is to stop using oil in the first place.

[stephaniechavez]

I'm a hairdresser and I heard of this many years ago. Just the other day a customer of mine asked if the hair clippings served purpose for anything other than trash. I responded with Yes!! They use hair for oil spills...I wish there were recycling bin for hair in hair salons. Keep up the good work guys!!

[juliasimmons]

What’s so wonderful about these is that there will never be a shortage. Humans grow hair naturally, and some grow it back really quickly.

[chewingpeppers]

I "love" how it's easier for them to burn/spread chemicals, instead of finding a solution to recover the hair mats 🙄 hope to see more of these eco-friendly solutions being massively supported in the future!

[Toastedscallops]

This is actually such an amazing idea, especially cause humans hair keeps growing so it's not like they're gonna run out