Donate Your Hair

“Hair for Oil Spills”

Most of us get our hair cut several times a year.  The average salon cuts about one pound of hair each day.  With over 300,000 salons in the country, that adds up to a lot of hair.  Rather than send all of that hair to a landfill, you can use it to clean up oil spills.  That’s right, I said oil spills.

Baby Hair Cut Lock of Love Matter of Trust

Matter of Trust is a nonprofit organization that  has created a “Hair for Oil Spills” program.  They collect hair from thousands of hair salons throughout the country.  The hair is either stuffed into nylon stockings or woven into hairmats, which are then used to surround, contain and soak up oil spills.  There were over 2,600 oil spills in the world last year.  With the help of “Hair for Oil Spills” program, your left over hair can be used to clean up oil spills and to help clean animals who are victims of a spill.

Donations are not limited to human hair either.  Matter of Trust will also accept donations of animal fur, waste wool and horse hair.  If you want to help, check with your local salon to see if they contribute to the program.  If not, encourage them to do so.  You, as an individual, can contribute hair clippings and pet fur as well.  So next time you cut your child’s hair, wrap it up and send it to Matter of Trust.  To save time and shipping costs, collect hair over a period of time and then send it all at once.  You can collaborate with other families or start a program at your child’s school to send larger donations.

For more information about the “Hair for Oil Spills” program, visit www.matteroftrust.org.

Locks of Love

Another way to reuse hair rather than dispose of it is to donate it to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that collects human hair to create hairpieces for children who suffer from long-term medical hair loss.  High quality hair prosthetics are created to help restore confidence and self-esteem to children who suffer from conditions such as alopecia and cancer.

Donating to Locks of Love requires a bigger commitment than the Matter of Trust program because at least ten inches of hair is necessary to be useful in creating the hairpiece.  There are very specific instructions for donating your hair, which can be found on Locks of Love’s site.  So make sure to carefully read the instructions before just cutting off your hair.  It needs to be in a ponytail or braid before being cut and cannot be bleached or shaved off.

For more information about Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org.