Come on....we all have fiber that would normally go in the trash or become garden mulch. Processing fiber is expensive and time consuming, so we only process our best. So isn't it great to know that what "was" trash...can be used in such a fabulous way? The following article was written by Theresa J. Holm and was published by the LAMA Letter, Pennsylvania Llama & Alpaca Association, February 2009.

Waste Fiber Can Help the Environment!

Recently while reading a dog magazine, Groomer to Groomer
(Vol. 28, Ed. 9, Jan/Feb 2009) I came across a brief article that
caught my attention. To quote the article, “Hair stylist, Phil
McCrory, has developed a unique way of cleaning up oil spills
to save the lives of marine animals. He teamed up with Matter
of Trust, an ecological public charity, to form the Hair Mats
Program. The program collects donated hair clipping to create
mats of hair. The hair mats are then used to clean up oil spills.
One square foot of hair mat (a half inch thick) can collect one
quart of oil in one minute.”
The hair mats provide a biodegradable, all natural, alternative
to chemical solutions. According to USA Gautier, Founder and
President of Matter of Trust, “Hair acts as a sponge, naturally
Absorbing the oil from both air and water”. Now, here is the
really cool part: Once the hair mats have absorbed the oil, they
are seeded with oyster mushrooms which grow on the mats
consuming the oil. It takes the mushrooms about 12 weeks to
do their job of breaking down the oil, but afterward the mats
can be reused as non-toxic compost!

I contacted Matter of Trust to find out whether or not they
could use Llama/Alpaca fi ber (which is technically hair, not
wool) and they said, “Absolutely”. There are two ways you
can donate: as an individual or collectively as a group. If you
donate as an individual you can simply mail your donation
to the address below. If you donate as a group you have to
first sign up (for free) in the business donor database program,
Excess/Access.org.  The advantage is that you can receive free
literature including posters about the program.
To donate your waste Llama/Alpaca fiber:
-Fiber does NOT need to be washed, but should be relatively
free of debris like hay, straw, gum wrappers, metal, etc.
-Put the fiber in a plastic bag that is tied shut, then in a box.
-Write “Llama/Alpaca Hair” on the outside of the box.
-Mail to:
Hair Mats Program
1588 Carroll Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94124
To learn more about this program go to:
www.MatterOfTrust.org.