What The Eff Can I Do With All Of This Hair?

My hair is long.  Long enough that my bangs are below my chin and the back stretches about 4 inches down my spine.  It's also thick.  I mean THICK.  And wavy.  Long, think, and wavy - which may or may not be the title of a 70's porn.  Anyway, those of you that have had long hair in the past can attest to the fact that a lot falls out on a daily basis.  A LOT.  When Super Greeny and I finish our showers in the morning it looks as if Expletive coughed up a mouse - with a mullet. 

We have a hair trap so it's fine, we aren't clogging up the plumbing.  It simply gets thrown in the trash, and therein lies the reason for this post - isn't there anything we can do to reuse all of that hair?

It seems wasteful.  For as long as humans and animals have coexisted, humans have made use of animal hair.  It's very versitale and in almost neverending supply.  I'm sure in centuries past there were civilizations that took advantage of human hair as a commodity, and I'm sure there are currently civilizations that do the same.  But not in America. 

I mean, gross.  Just thinking of a coaster made of hair from an unkept hillbilly is (almost) enough to make me never want to drink again.  So there's that to deal with.  Also, there are certain diseases that can indeed be transmitted through human hair.  So it would have to go through a vigorous cleansing process in order to hit the shelves.

Without the time to do much research (I'm at work) I did find one site that lists 10 Strange Uses for Human Hair.

I'm in agreeance with the wig and test wig making, and even the food growing and artistic uses - but where I'm focusing on is the "clean up oil spills" genre.  Practical, humane, world saving, uses with very little human interaction on a daily basis.

Here is a link referring to the horticultural uses, or SmartGrow.

Here also is an article referencing the use of human and animal hair to clean up oil spills - it's called Matter of Trust.   

And here and here are articles about composting your hair and then yes, using it to grow food.  "MMMM, my potato tastes so think and wavy."

Now that's what I'm talking about.  Put it to good use without being creepy.  With so many great thinkers in this world you would assume there would be a recycleable use for just about everything.  I'm sure that there is - it's just a matter of 1) discovering those uses, and 2) getting everyone on board.

The best use that I discovered that is still in it's infant stages, is the use of human hair as a solar conductor.  Unreal!  How effing awesome.  This teenage kid from Napal that probably has less money than we make in a few days has successfully created a human hair solar panel that creates electricity.  If you get the right people with their minds in the right places you're bound to have amazing results.

What's next?  Toe-nail based fuel, ear-wax fertilizer, shampoo made from....woah, this is a PG13 site.  Life is a cycle on all accounts, so REcycling those natural and man-made things we normally disregard actually makes a whole lot of sense.

So next time you're throwing something away, remember - what you do with that trash could change the world.

Keep it real wavy.


Here are a few places where you can donate your hair for good causes, but with stipulations:
Locks of Love
Wigs for Kids