Fur balls blot tar balls

[catgirl]

Source: Worcester Telegram

NORTHBORO — Dawn Giovannucci often wonders how she can help. This time, she's doing her part by holding on to something she usually throws away.

Ms. Giovannucci, owner of a Northboro dog spa, is collecting the hair and fur that falls to the floor after she grooms a canine, boxing it up and sending it to a warehouse. There, volunteers will use the fibers to make hair booms, which will be sent to the Gulf of Mexico to help soak up some of the crude oil that has been gushing from an underwater well since April 20.

It's part of an effort led by Matter of Trust, a San Francisco-based ecological public charity. The group is asking people around the country to donate fur, wool, hair clippings — from pets and humans — and pantyhose. When the fibers are stuffed into nylon stockings, made into so-called booms, they can quickly soak up oil.

Just like hair on human heads collects oil, reminding us to shampoo, hair absorbs dark, dense crude oil. Still skeptical? Look for Matter of Trust's demonstration videos on youtube.com. The organization has been using this method to help clean up oil spills since 1998, according to its website.

Read more: http://www.telegram.com/article/20100514/NEWS/100519814/1101/rss01&source=rss

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Spread the word!

[aquart]

1. Already signed up. Sent five 2-gallon bags of nylons.

Although I now hear they are hoping to find a heavier mesh.

[glowing]

3. Cheese cloth would probably work better than nylons...

or knitt wool baggies... That would be neat.. and re-usable. They said sheep's wool helps with the soak up.. You could make long "booms" with some knitting needles, and stuff hair inside.. I would think they would be re-usable once washed out with Dawn.

[dgibby]

11. Great idea!

Good use for leftover yarn, too. Think I'll give it a try. Thanks!

[aquart]

16. They've got alpaca farmers contributing, too.

[ima_sinnic]

18. do you have a rough idea of the dimensions of the knit bags? how long or wide? (nt)

[catgirl]

5. They're making hair mats too

They work great. It is demonstrated in the YouTube video.

[glowing]

2. Isn't it crazy how something so natural can help with the cleaning up process...

And yet, the dispersants they are spraying are soooo deadly.

[robinblue]

4. I know a hair dresser/salon who is collecting cut hair and sending it.

[barbtries]

6. my hair's coming off today

i already have my address to send it to - i'm going to bring the info in with me to the salon. hopefully they get on board.

[bighart]

8. Where do you send it?

I would love to help as well.

[babylonsister]

9. Here:

http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/hairmatsinfo.html


And lots more info here:

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/how_to_help_volunteers_needed.html

[bighart]

15. Thanks

[robinblue]

19. thanks

[aquart]

17. We're not allowed to share addresses.

They assign us "waves" and we're told to ship to a certain place by a certain date so that the booms are ready as the oil washes ashore there.

The addresses are to donated warehouse space.

[dipsydoodle]

7. At least there no should be doubt

that all donations are on this occasion will be used as intended. The WW2 effort to collect rags and metal apparently created a sorting problem so large that the whole lot was dumped in the Atlantic.

I assume they wouldn't want the fur balls my cats cough up ? I'd be happy to mail them to the USA but there might be some long faces at your customs import centre.

[dgibby]

10. I just finished "shearing" my 3 spaniels.

Will box up the hair and send it asap. Should be enough to save the entire gulf!:rofl: I've never seen so much dog hair in my entire life! More than 2 large trash bags full. I'm convinced the Springer is part sheep. Thanks for the link. I didn't have an address.

[1monster]

12. I put my one little shih tzu's fur bag up against your three spaniels' fur bag!

This pict is not my little Fuzzmutt, but it sure looks like him.



He needs a puppy cut and is going to get one! You should see the amount of fur he generates just with a trim! :wow:

[marions ghost]

13. Hairbrained?

http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=143937

Hair Booms for the Gulf Spill: Shear Genius or Hairbrained?

SAN FRANCISCO -- A tiny non-profit here thought it had an idea worth testing on the Gulf Coast oil spill: Try using booms created from old pantyhose stuffed with hair from pet and beauty salons to sop up the oil.

But neither the oil company nor other scientists put much stock in the idea. So now tens of thousands of "hair booms" are fast clogging the postal system and filling donated warehouses around the Gulf region.

Among the problems: It's unclear whether the volunteer-made booms are usable; they haven't been tested in an actual major oil spill; and BP, the oil company responsible for cleaning up the spill, hasn't returned the non-profit's phone calls.

Lisa Craig Gautier, 43, spent Tuesday fielding calls and e-mails from eager volunteers who are organizing "boom-B-Q" boom-making parties. She and her husband founded the group in their living room 12 years ago. Gautier says they've done "dozens" of tests using the booms, but they haven't been deployed in an actual spill or in anything like the conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, where 210,000 gallons of crude is flowing daily. (snip)

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:banghead:

Petco Inc. has also stopped sending hair. People need to realize that scientists are not in favor of the hair boom idea. But go ahead, if it makes you feel better. This will become a classic urban myth. I come from a family of marine scientists, so I feel obligated to debunk this. But it's a stimulus for hair salons and dog groomers, so that's a positive outcome anyway. "Fur balls blotting tar balls"--what?! :crazy:--not necessary, just pick up the tarballs and send them to BP. Maybe pile them up on the beach like a huge snowman praying.

Don't take my word for it about hair booms--find a scientist and ask them.

:shrug:

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PS--this poster on Rachel Maddow's blog says it well:

Question: "Don't you understand that people need to feel like they can take part in this?"

Well, sort of, but not if it takes attention from BP's responsibility to pay for this mess and arrange professional clean-up efforts. After Katrina, a lot of well-meaning people collected clothes donations and drove to N.O. with trucks full of unusable stuff. People felt as if they were doing something by donating clothes, but the feeling did not accomplish zilch. If we KNEW 100 percent the hair booms be used, NOW, and would make a difference, fine. Otherwise, channel your energy into letter-writing Washington and keeping the heat on BP and Big Oil.

Reply#10 - Fri May 14, 2010 9:50 PM EDT

[benld74]

14. Not enough animals to provide that much fur