How you can help with the oil spill clean up efforts

In the past weeks, I’ve watched in horror as the news showed images covering the oil spill. My feelings have gone from outrage, to disgust, to outrage again, to depression, and finally, uselessness. We’re told that all we can do is sit back and wait for the US Coast Guard and BP to come up with a solution.  But according to the latest comments from BP, it could take weeks or months before the leak is fixed. Meanwhile, the oil slick gets bigger, and the Gulf ecosystem gets worse. Tonight, I learned of a way, a small way, that we – as individuals – can help…

Help contain the oil spill by cutting your hair.

That’s right. Cut your hair and donate it.

The reason why this is a good solution is because hair is very absorbent for oil. If you want to test this out, go a few days without washing your hair and notice how oily your hair gets. There are thousands of tiny scales on the hair shafts that attracts and locks in the oil.

Apparently, this concept has been used before. Back in 2006, the Philippine government conducted a nationwide drive to amass tons of hair to absorb the more than 50,000 gallons of oil from a tanker leak. Inmates in Philippine prisons shaved their heads and chests, and hair salons sent the hair clippings from their shops.

There is an organization called Matter of Trust located in San Francisco that is collecting hair to make hair mats to send to the gulf coast. They will collect your hair and stuff it into nylon stockings to create a “boom”.

According to Matter of Trust, “The US has over 300,000 hair salons and each cuts an average of a pound of hair per day. Groomers usually cut 3 pounds per day!”

There are scattered nail salons nationwide that have already signed up to participate in this drive and send in their clippings, with more signing up every day.

And not just human hair. Pet hair works too. Petco recently announced that they will be sending their grooming clippings to Matter of Trust to aid in creating more booms to soak up the oil. According to Petco, they expect to ship about a ton of pet hair a day.

So if you were planning on getting your hair cut or your pet groomed, find out whether your salon is participating in this drive. If so, rest assured that you are doing something to aid in the cleanup of the oil spill.

UPDATE (May 17, 2010): Thanks to one of our commentators, we’re updating our post to include more information on how you can individually donate.

Because of the overwhelming response that they’ve been getting, they cannot answer our individual calls or accept our individual donations. However, they set up a system where, if you register, then they will send you the address to mail your hair donations. It looks like there are four locations, all located in Florida, but your specific location to send in the donations will be based on the letter that your state begins with.

You can go here to sign up: http://www.excessaccess.com/

I signed up and within a couple hours received my second email listing the addresses.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to register, then you can check your local hair salon or dog groomer to see if they’ve registered. I’ve heard that more and more businesses (including alpaca farms) are signing up to help out, so chances that you find one are likely.

Sorona - New Eco-fiber Made From Corn!

You may have heard of Sorona, but did you know about its environmental benefits?

Sorona is a new polymer created by DuPont (yes, the carpet company). It is made from corn, and introduced as an alternative to traditional polyester. One of the newest eco fabrics of today, Sorona offers a softer feel and outstanding elasticity compared to other polymeric fibers such as polyester and nylon. Sorona fabrics also provide a carbon dioxide reduction of 30% while the Sorona manufacturing process reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 63%, compared to conventional nylon made from petroleum.  That’s because it is manufactured in a continuous process, which minimizes waste generation and processing inefficiencies. According to DuPont, it is “made partially with agricultural feedstocks instead of petrochemicals, reducing our dependency on oil.” Sorona also contains 37% renewably sourced ingredients by weight.

The following picture does a good job of summing up the process:

Last year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the government agency that regulates the textile industry) recognized the attributes of Sorona are different from traditional polyester, thus meriting a new generic name for apparel fabric identification—triexta. This is why our care labels will say “triexta” rather than Sorona.

With superior dyeability, excellent washfastness and colorfastness, Sorona fibers make an excellent material for clothing. We love it for its exceptional durability, softness and built-in permanent stain and ultraviolet (UV) ray resistance! Did you know that clothing made from Sorona fibers can resist stretch and sag over time? Shirts made with Sorona fabric also dry fast because of its rapid drying capability. Oh, and of course, it’s stain and static resistant as well, something we’ve come to expect and trust from a company like DuPont.

Now, we’re not saying that it is the ULTIMATE eco-fabric. After all, it still takes resources to grow and cultivate the corn, and energy to process it into fiber. (Besides, if we’re going to go to extremes, then a large tea leaf would be the best eco-friendly way to clothes ourselves.) But it’s a great alternative to traditional polyester fabrics and a good step in the right direction.

Please share your feedback with us. If you’ve purchased our Jessie Boyfriend Tee, let us know what you think of it. Thanks!

Visit us at http://www.greenblossoms.net and check out our Jessie Boyfriend Tee -- it's made from Sorona!

GreenBlossoms Shirts: Sexy. Sophisticated. Sustainable.

Ok, this is way, way overdue, we know. We've been dying to show you our shirts and now they're finally up on our site!

Ladies, these shirts are made for you. We made environmentally conscious choices in every step of the manufacturing process, from the selection of the raw materials, to the packaging of the finished goods. Our shirts are designed to be versatile and timeless classics that you can wear over and over again. Our clothing comes from organic cotton and bamboo, a rapidly renewable resource. Oh, we used corn too! You can read more about our fabric choices in our site.

The past months have been very busy -- fabric research, photo shoot, photo editing, web content updates, website design tweaking, research, etc. We never realized that sooo much work goes into launching a clothing company! But now that the shirts are up, do check them out here -- we'd love to hear your comments and suggestions! Tell us which sytles and colors you like best, and what else you would like to see on the site.

If you have a Facebook page, let us know and we'll add you! You can also follow us on Twitter - @GreenBlossoms. Drop us a line or two at info@greenblossoms.net if you have any questions. Thanks!