[shaddi]

I recall reading a few years ago that human hair could be used the same way. It seems there are a lot of natural materials that work well for absorbing oil; I'm not sure if this is what's used in the "oil absorbing booms" the Coast Guard's been deploying, but these are made from wood: http://www.clear-passage.com/absorb.html#anchor799344.

As a side note, I think it's cool that this was presented by a guy with a Southern (US) accent and overalls. Hopefully this will do some small part to breaking the stereotype that people with a Southern accent are not intelligent.

[thentic]

http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/hairmatsinfo.html

this group collects hair donations to be used for exactly that purpose.

[timdorr]

My most recent haircut is participating in this exact program. It'll be floating around the Gulf soon :)