[COLUMBIA, S.C.] Collins & Lacy, P.C. is launching the “Hair-to-Spare” campaign to help the oil spill clean-up efforts in the Gulf Coast, and the firm is asking all Midlands hair salons to start filling designated garbage bags with hair clippings. The clippings can be stuffed into booms and sent to help absorb an estimated five million gallons of leaked oil in the Gulf Coast.
On Tuesday, May 25, salons are encouraged to bring the bags of hair-to-spare to 1330 Lady Street, the designated drop-off site in Columbia. From 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., contributors will be able to drive up and drop off the bags of hair, which Collins & Lacy will then package and ship to an environmental group called “Matter of Trust.”
“It could take a while to clean up the Gulf Coast. Even though we are miles away, this is one way we and the citizens of South Carolina can help,” said Gray Culbreath, managing partner of Collins & Lacy.
Hair adheres to oil pretty efficiently, which is why hair gets greasy, according to officials with Matter of Trust. The non-profit organization for the past 10 years has been making “hair booms,” which are nylon stockings stuffed with human hair and trimmed animal fur.
“Booms will lie along the beach, the waves will come up, and they’ll go through the hair and the nylon. And the hair will grab the oil and then the wave goes back out and it’s cleaner,” said Lisa Gautier, co-founder of Matter of Trust.
