Through Wednesday, a group of Tallahassee beauty salons and pet groomers will offer discounted hair/fur trimming services, in order to collect hair and fur to donate to oil spill boom-making efforts.
The collected hair or fur will be donated to The Sunshine And Shores Foundation and Matter of Trust by the Tallahassee Cuts for Crude participants.
Local organizers say they are continuing with the effort despite reports from BP and the U.S. Coast Guard saying that they don’t intend to use the hair in booms to help stop any oil as it reaches coastlines.
The hair-for-oil effort was organized by the San Francisco-based nonprofit Matter of Trust, which after repeated requests for comment by telephone and e-mail released a statement over the weekend saying there had been a misunderstanding with BP.
The hair was collected to make homespun oil boom to contain the ooze as it invades deeper into coastal marshland.
Engineers said they concluded that using the hair was not feasible, and the organizations collecting the hair were asked to stop doing so.
“We foresee a risk that widespread deployment of the hair boom could exacerbate the debris problem,” said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Shawn Eggert in Robert, La., at the main command center.
But Tamara McShane, one of the organizers of the Tallahassee effort, said the drive will continue.
“We are aware of the comments from BP that they weren’t going to use hair,” McShane said Monday night. “But we’re continuing with our plan to collect the hair. We have heard from other local entities that there is still an interest. We’re thinking it’s going to be last-minute. This way, we are going to continue to collect it.”
People interested in the discounted hair cut need to call one of the designated salons to set an appointment for today or Wednesday. Just indicate the Cuts for Crude cause to receive a discount.
Participating businesses include: A Cut Above, 400 SE Capital Circle, 656-5556; Artisan Salon, 1305 Paul Russell Road, 878-7722; Bella Hair Design, 2748 NE Capital Circle, 523-0153; Canopy Lane & PMS Styling Salon, 2522 NE Capital Circle, 422-1907; Cheveux, 2522-16 NE Capital Circle, 656-9333; Creative Design Hair Salon, 4377 Crawfordville Road, 656-3185; Designer Cuts Inc., 4225 W. Pensacola St., 576-7174 or 576-6671; Fuel a salon, 3425 Thomasville Road, Suite 7, 894-3835; Hair on Earth, 741 N. Monroe St., 681-7733; Hair House, 2500 Apalachee Unit D, 878-1300; Hair Works, 1355 Market St., 893-3121; Impressions by Trena Inc., 3415 N. Monroe St., 514-1223; Mane Event, Kaley McRae, 1409 Maclay Commerce Drive, 893-4407; Randazzles, 113 W. College Ave., 681-0854; Reflection Hair & Nail Beauty Salon, 3203 Apalachee, 878-8366; Tallahassee Chic Salon, 1690 Raymond Diehl Road Plaza 10 Suite 2A, 297-2442.
Participating pet groomers: The Pet Place, 1626 Capital Circle NE, 656-1512.
Updates of additional salons can be found on the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122191621142645&ref=ts&__a=23
Or website: http://sites.google.com/site/tallycuts4crude/salonsandgroomers.
For further information, or to find out how your salon can be a part of this event, call Kim Ross at 766-1300 or kimross72@yahoo.com, Tamara McShane at 274-9204, and for updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tallycuts4crude.