Those of us who have knit with it know how soft and absorbent alpaca  hair is.  That’s precisely why the people at Matter of Trust  are using it to fill ‘booms’ that will be used to soak up oil from the Gulf Coast oil spill.    Alpaca farmers across the country including this one are donating their unused fleece for the cause.  Weirdly enough,  human hair works just the same way.  Hair salons are being asked to collect their clean hair clippings to donate as well.

It got me thinking – I don’t have nearly enough loose fibers to help much now; but if I started saving all of my wool and alpaca scraps in one place, in the unfortunate even of a future environmental disaster  – I could be part of the solution.  Just a little food for thought.