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One innovative nonprofit has an oddly stylish solution to help with the spreading oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico: using an unlikely pairing to clean it up—hair and hosiery! Since 1998, Matter of Trust has been collecting donations of oil-absorbing human hair and animal fur to clean up after the thousands of oil spills that happen each year. The hair and fur donations are made into mats and booms, which use old nylon stockings to keep clippings together. To help, volunteers in the Gulf region are hosting “Boom-B-Q’s” (boom-making parties), and over 300,000 salons in the U.S. are donating hair clippings to the nonprofit’s hair-collecting program, which means you might already be part of this great cause every time you get you get a trim. But Matter of Trust still needs help. “We now need the costly mesh used to carry the boons across the beaches,” says Lisa Gautier, President of Matter of Trust. That’s why Gautier and her husband are encouraging cash contributions, with a promise to personally match monetary donations dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000. “This movement is better than we ever imagined, but we still need the funds to transport the booms,” Gautier said. “The volunteers at the Boom-B-Q’s would be very grateful!” Watch the video above to learn more about the program and visit matteroftrust.org/contribute to donate via Paypal.

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