Many donating hair to clean up Gulf Coast oil spill

By Dustin Grove (grove@wsbt.com)

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An oil rig explosion in April left millions of gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill has been contaminating water for three weeks and threatens sensitive marshes and marine life from Louisiana to Texas. Hair clippings will be used to absorb oil in the spill. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

By Jason Overholt

Story Created: May 11, 2010 at 3:34 PM EDT

Story Updated: May 11, 2010 at 7:31 PM EDT

SOUTH BEND — A local woman is joining a grassroots movement to help clean up the Gulf Coast oil spill. She's doing it with the hair from her dogs and cats.

Michelle Gloss of South Bend will shave her pets and ship the hair south to be used in booms that will soak up the oil. She heard about the movement from a friend over the weekend.

“I thought, ‘is this really a solution?’” she said. But the project, organized by the California not-for-profit agency called ”Matter of Trust,” now has help from dozens of salons and pet groomers across the country. They are donating pet hair, human hair, and even bird feathers to be stuffed into pantyhose to soak up the spill.

Gloss lived near the Gulf Coast before moving back to South Bend a few years ago.

“I still have very close ties there and I think a lot of my heart is still in New Orleans, so when I see things like this … these are things I can actually do from up here and it just makes me feel better that I’m still contributing.”

For more information, you can email Gloss at nolafur@gmail.com.

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