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Hair Power: Salons Fight Pollution
8 Sep
Summary
- Hair booms collected 15 kg of pollutants in one month.
- Hair attracts oil and heavy metals but repels water.
- Project gives waste hair a second life cleaning water.
In Laguna Verde, Chile, a unique environmental project is transforming salon waste into a powerful tool for cleaning polluted waterways. General manager of Matter of Trust Chile, Mattia Carenini, utilized Petropelo hair booms in a local stream. These booms, crafted from donated hair, effectively absorbed oil and heavy metal pollutants from greywater draining into the sea.
Over a one-month period, the hair booms successfully collected an estimated 15 kilograms of pollutants. This demonstrates the remarkable oleophilic nature of hair, which attracts oil and hydrocarbons while repelling water. Matter of Trust Chile collaborates with numerous salons and pet grooming businesses nationwide to source this otherwise discarded material.
The organization operates two key projects: Petropelo booms for water cleanup and Agropelo mats for agricultural water conservation. Globally, hair booms have been tested as solutions for oil spills, including a notable application after the 2020 MV Wakashio incident off Mauritius. The initiative in Laguna Verde highlights the potential of repurposing waste into effective environmental instruments.
