Welcome to Matter Of Trust : About Us : Board

More Photos
Join us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Boom FAQ
See our Video & YouTube Demos
Press Coverage Head Shots
Press- You can use any of our own videos/photos. Credit name under photo otherwise www.matteroftrust.org
PRESS contact: Lisa@MatterOfTrust.org please type in subject field PRESS+who you're with + Tel #.

--- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ---

June 25, 2010
Friday 6/25 at 1:00pm - Marine Toxicologist Riki Ott, PhD and Lisa Gautier, President of Matter of Trust, are speaking at Town Hall Four Point Sheraton 1325 Miracle Strip Pkwy Hwy 98 East Fort Walton FL 32548

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and Boom FAQ and Videos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

June 24, 2010

Oil plume arriving on beach 6/24/10 Orange Beach, AL

Grids being made at firehouse for Weeks Bay

ORANGE BEACH ALABAMA - Matter of Trust and SOS Save Our Shores and Magnolia Springs Fire Dept. deployed donated booms made of natural fibers (hair, fur & fleece) at Weeks Bay today. Fire Chief Jamie Hinton and Mayor Charles Houser have blocked off the area at Pelican Point with barges to protect the estuary from the oil plumes. The fear is that this may not be enough as the plumes dive lower than the barges, so Chief Hinton has designed an anchored rope grid with bags of boom acting as flaps. These flow with the currents and let in fish but will also trap oil.

Oil plumes came in fast to Orange Beach today. Within minutes, white beaches turned brown with oil. These grids of booms are being prepared now and can be strung across quickly when oil starts to enter the bay so as to protect the estuary wildlife.

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and Boom FAQ and Videos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

June 14, 2010

orange white orangeoil
Donated natural fiber booms in shrimp bags and conventional boom Orange Beach, Alabama

Orange Beach, Alabama, Amanda Bacon takes hair / fur / fleece boom and puts it in shrimp bags with pool noodles and strings them together to reach from pier to pier. Councilman Holk has it in front of his house and his neighbors have conventional boom. Amanda gets a call early Monday morning 6/14/10 from Councilman Holk saying that his is the clean stretch of beach and the others have oil that slipped under the conventional boom. He says he wants more, and so do his neighbors! Wonderful Amanda!

Grand Isle, Louisiana, Summer Burke has hair / fur / fleece boom in her car and sees oil coming up into the grass. She pulls over and jumps out and starts blocking the boom as the Grand Isle firemen come up and help. See her video - Summer you are amazing!

click to see video

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and Boom FAQ and Videos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

June 11, 2010

Now We're Making Booms and Deploying

So much fiber (hair, fur, fleece & feathers) has been generously donated from every city in North America and beyond to our 19 warehouses that we can now make over 25 miles of boom! We have asked all of our participants to keep fibers ready to ship on hand and to wait for us to make room. We are working through the tens of thousands of boxes we have. The generosity of the over 45,000 businesses and thousands of individuals is really tremendous! Now it's time to get all the booms made and start soaking up the oil!

Check out photos of your hair cuts in action and we will send out alerts and when there is more need for fiber. Thanks!

Please see our FAQ page for more information. We are still accepting sign-ups so that donors are at the ready to help send fiber for local and large scale emergency spills.

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and FAQ page and YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

June 10, 2010

Over 10 Miles of Hair, Fur, Fleece Booms Have Been Made By Hundreds Of Volunteers In The Gulf!

It is all being donated to communities that want it to soak up the incoming oil.

City of Fairhope, Alabama takes 1000 hair boom

meyers
Fort Myers, Florida takes hair boom

amanda
Hair booms in shrimp bags tied pier to pier in Alabama

goo
Gooey tar balls rolled up by hair, fur, fleece booms Florida

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

June 9, 2010

OTTI MAT & Matter of Trust

SAN FRANCISCO - Matter of Trust is operating in the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill with permission from World Response Group, Inc. the owner of the patent for OTTI MAT. Matter of Trust's booms are for donation to the Gulf. They are made from donated fibers and assembled by volunteers. They do not meet the specifications of the industrial made OTTI MAT.

OTTI MAT purchases hair in China and manufactures mats in China and these mats are approved by the EPA and NASA & Page 2.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

May 29, 2010

Comparison of Hair / Fur / Fleece Boom vs. Conventional Boom

MONTEGUT - Matter of Trust is in the lovely Bayou. Please check out today's YouTube for a visual used motor oil demo comparison of hair boom and alpaca / llama fleece vs. conventional sorbent boom. Everyone here is so helpful and full of ideas and enthusiasm. It is such a pleasure to be here and now we can understand even more why people here are so determiend to save this area! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

May 28, 2010

Floatation for Hair Booms and Containment Boom Trap Doors

NEW ORLEANS - Matter of Trust is visiting the Gulf! And it is spectacularly beautiful! Please check out today's YouTube for what we're exploring for hair mats and the oil spill. We met up with Richard Hebert and Roger Taylor and were able to do a demo of floating the hair boom and the trap door containment system for oil and debris. Everyone here is so helpful and full of ideas and enthusiasm. It is such a pleasure to be here and now we can understand even more why people here are so determiend to save this area! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

May 25, 2010

Riki Ott, PhD, Famed Marine Toxicologist Quoted Re Hair Booms

SAN FRANCISCO - Riki Ott PhD, Marine Toxicologist, Author and Exxon Valdez Oil Spill expert - "The oil industry's approach is to use oil based synthetic products to respond to oil spills. After use, this results in mountains of contaminated material that need to be landfilled or incinerated. This creates a secondary pollution problem. At least with hair booms and hair mats, natural material is used that breaks down faster and releases less toxins when incinerated or landfilled. They even have a chance at being composted with bacteria. To suggest that any possible shedding of natural fibers into the gulf are a problem, pales in comparison to methods using hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic industrial solvents. The benefits of removing oil waste with natural fibers largely outweighs the minimal immediate risk to the environment. Also they reduce the secondary pollution concerns that come with using oil based products, such as only synthetic boom and dispersants." www.Rikiott.com

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our Photos and YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

Alabama Boom B Q

May 25, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - Matter of Trust is accepting hair, fur, fleece, feathers and nylons! Thousands of booms are being made all along the Gulf Coast by hundreds of volunteers. Supplies are ready to go to official government haz mat teams that have hazardous waste disposal plans in place. Matter of Trust is only giving out boom to official government haz mat teams. We are an environmental charity and would not risk oily boom being left out without proper disposal. BP Public Affairs has told us they have enough of their own boom. And Matter of Trust is now in contact with local parishes and counties in the Gulf States. The question is not whether the boom will ever get used, but if responsible parties will take all clean up materials now and pay for haz waste disposal so that cash strapped communities don't have to pay out of pocket. We will let everyone know as soon as officials take the hair boom.

alpaca

"The Alpaca Breeders of America have found another great use for their fiber in a rapidly growing textile industry. High grade fiber which is used for felted mats and landscape products are being diverted to the Gulf Oil Spill crisis. Shearing season is in full force and both llama and alpaca breeders are answering the call." Larry Vallozzi, President Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc.

To see demos of how fast the natural fibers work, we have provided YouTubes and will be doing a comparison of synthetic boom next to hair boom. We will show how they both work, float, and what they are made of so that any questions on the necessity of using both products can be evaluated by the public. Matter of Trust is purchasing 400 hair mats, made in China, by www.Ottimat.com

Richard Herbert has sent Matter of Trust his invention a hair boom floating cage. It can hold many hair booms aligned in rows. They can sit low and skim oil off the surface. Herbert's trap door invention for the containment boom prevents the oil from escaping and allows the hair boom to collect as much as possible. Fishermen in Louisiana are volunteering with Matter of Trust to make these this week. We will provide a press release with more information and a press conference on Wednesday or Thursday.

ourboom

Inventions by GRR Marine Debris Traps

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

May 22, 2010

Note to Press: Thank you for your patience while we were on "stand by" with BP in baited breath. We're still learning and will communications flowing from now on. From the local papers, stations, and blogs, to the national networks and the international round the clock coverage - we are so grateful to you all! For 12 years, we've felt lucky for every press opportunity. You've provided our programs with so much outreach, that our small staff wishes fervently that we could respond to each of you personally now. You are mobilizing the masses with your human interest stories from every town with participating salons, groomers, scout troupes, cut-a-thons, and alpaca farmers. Around the Globe, natural fiber recycling is being seen in a whole new light! You, along with the hair, fur, fleece, feather & nylon donors, boom makers, donated warehouse owners and every haircut client, are heroically heralding the environmental leaps for waste stream diversion and oil spill cleanup. Bravo!

Amazing Volunteers turned out Saturday to Boom!

BOOM BABY BOOM!

Puppy Palace, Tampa FL - led by Jennifer Underwood

yente
Fort Walter Beach, Florida - led by Barbara Johnson and Yente Sehman

Sunshine & Shores, Destin FL- Led by Billie Golden

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

May 21, 2010

"THERE HAS BEEN A MISUNDERSTANDING" BP Spokesman Ronald D. Rybarczyk

Tonight, after a few days of mixed messages to the press, Ronald D. Rybarczyk BP Government & Public Affairs, has contacted us at Matter of Trust. Rybarcyzk informed us that they have a plentiful supply of synthetic boom for their needs and will not be in want of donated boom or renewable fiber.

We deeply appreciate those at BP's Houma Critical Resources Materials Management. They contacted us May 15th and have been preparing a report for usage of the hair. We informed Rybarczyk of this as he was not aware of this when their press release came out May 21 saying BP would not use hair booms. He then checked in with them and then called us back and apologized for the confusion, and then repeated his original message that there was no need for our hair.

We are were in shock, especially as we had cancelled our deadline and opened the floodgates for more hair, fur and fleece. Still, this process has been useful and informative. Houma had requested that we send them all data and demos we had on sorbent qualities, available tonnage of the renewable fiber and storage locations. Different packaging suggestions were also researched as we have been requesting new ideas for containment. We understood that BPs Critical Resources Material Management were submitting a report for usage of the hair, Friday afternoon, before hearing from Rybarczyk. We are very grateful to them for reaching out and truly being "Beyond Petroleum!"

Loose hair & Loose fur OIL DEMO - 0:58 music: "My Other Love" by Pretty Lights

Hair boom in OIL DEMO - 4:13 music: "Arabika" by V. Didulya

Hair boom with mesh OIL DEMO - 1:05 music: "Standing on the World" by Bender (Larry Laven Remix)

Plan H (H is for hair)
girls
Mississippi Boom B Q

The boom will be there in case it is needed. There are many Boom B Qs planned for this weekend all along the Coast and the warehouses will soon be fully stocked. At this point, we are asking all new participants who sign up after May 22, 2010 to patiently wait for our emergency alerts before sending more hair to the gulf. We will need all the space we have for all the fiber already in the pipeline.

barbara daisye
Florida Boom B Q ........................................................ Louisiana Boom B Q Ritz Carlton New Orleans

Hair soaks up oil - 3:38 music: "Via Con Me" by Paolo Conte

How to make a hair boom DEMO- 3:25 music: "Slanty Boogie" by Morgan Hevrin

How to apply outer mesh to hair boom DEMO - 2:00 music: "Slanty Boogie"
We used 101407 Orange Mesh - Rolls of 150 ft. @ $49.00 each www.delstarinc.com (800) 531-5112

YouTube Ft. Myers, FL Boom B Q - by Ingrid Setzer & Vincent Koistinen

Matter Of Trust, establised in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

cuts
Georgia

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

BP CONTACTS MATTER OF TRUST FOR USING DONATED BOOM

May 19, 2010

BP will be sending out a press release presently. Today, Matter of Trust is providing BP with the additional information that they requested this morning.

"We, at Matter of Trust, are thrilled that BP has contacted us to discuss deployment of the donated booms. This mobilization orchestrating International natural fiber recycling systems to help the Gulf Spill has taken less than 3 weeks. The massive, rapid response to help the environment has been phenomenal." - Lisa Gautier, President.

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

ALABAMA BOOM B Qs "BIGGEST BOOM MOUNTAINS CHALLENGE!" FLORIDA, LOUSIANNA AND MISSISSIPPI BOOM B Qers SAY YOU'RE ON!

May 14, 2010

boompileal
Felix Fish Camp in Alabama had a huge Boom B Q Thursday May 13th 2010. The Amazing Amanda Bacon was the organizer.

bags
Hair booms were made by over 100 volunteers. Hanes donated nylons for theh hair and fur and 10,000 pounds of donated fleece from Alpaca farmers was trucked in!

BP is saying officially "At this time, BP is not soliciting or accepting donations." And we can understand why they would say that. BP hasn't spent a lot of time thinking about the properties of hair, fur, wool and fleece. And they're a little busy right now.

Matter of Trust is saying officially: "At this time, we are simply providing volunteers the opportunity to make hair boom and stockpile them all along the Gulf Coast, in case BP needs them." We're calling it Plan H (H is for Hair).

BP is the responsible party and only officials and professional Haz Mat teams should deploy and remove oily boom. Not only is this toxic, smelly, messy work. It is expensive to dispose of oil waste properly. As parents, we are all, knowingly, more than willing to let responsible parties who want to, clean up their own messes.

Matter of Trust does need help with information on the outer mesh. The nylons are great for holding fiber in place and letting in the oil. We just need advice on what protective covering BP or other official HazMat teams prefer to have go over the nylon. Just in case they need to use them.

Meanwhile, Biggest Boom Mountain Challenge is on! Florida, Louisianna and Mississippi Boom B Qers say to Alabama's "You're on!"

Video of how hair booms soak up oil boom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q0cL4GsSqw

Video of how to make booms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHuWyFVo62o

Video on Hair Boom Program
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQOD_Ir2vQ

Video of how hair booms soak up oil boom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q0cL4GsSqw

Video of how to make booms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHuWyFVo62o

Video on Hair Boom Program
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQOD_Ir2vQ

Photos

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

May 5, 2010
Global Communities Combine Hosiery and Hair to Save the Gulf Coast

SAN FRANCISCO -- As oil slick spreads in the Gulf of Mexico, communities worldwide have started showing support for one organization that is all ready to clean up the Gulf Coast with a free, low-tech solution: Boom made of recycled hosiery and hair clippings.

Matter of Trust, an environmental non-profit, has helped clean up oil spills in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since 1998 by reusing donated hair clippings from hair salons, barber shops, pet groomers, and wool farmers. Stuffing this donated hair into donated nylon stockings, this organization creates highly absorbent booms to contain oil spills.

Matter of Trust is currently coordinating efforts of thousands of participants to match nylon and hair donations to space in temporary warehousing along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. Volunteers are building booms on site hoping to hold off the encroaching oil slick. Through its donor database matching system program called Excess Access, Matter of Trust is notifying salons and groomers... of where exactly to send their boxes to high-priority sites.

The organization is already receiving donations from all 50 states and several other countries.
Donations include hundreds of thousands of pounds of hair, and many washed nylon pantyhose stockings, which they'll accept even with small runs or tears.

Gulf Coast cities are heralding volunteers that are hosting "Bar B Q parties," or "Boom B Q's as they're calling them, to assemble booms in their own backyards. Other "hair-raising" events include "Cut-a-thon" and "Shave-a-thon" parties to collect hair donations.

ORCHESTRATION AND COLLABORATION

"We all want the same end results," says Gautier. "We would love to hear from Unified Command, and understand that they're even busier than we are. We know from past spills that they call you, it's hard to reach them. It would be nice to connect, to be sure we don't "

WHY HAIR?

"Simply put, we shampoo because hair collects oil. It soaks up skin oils, grabs oil from the pollution in the air, and it can soak up petroleum in oil spills." says Lisa Craig Gautier, Executive Director of Matter of Trust.

FOR MORE INFO, PLEASE SEE:
Matter of Trust website
Guidelines for donating hair or fur.
Click here to register donations and to receive updates.
Patent owners of the hairmat have lots of OttiMats available for sale at ottimat.com

VISUALS:
Youtube Video: How hair soaks up oil spills
Photos of hair boom and hair mats

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Matter of Trust on Twitter
Become of fan of Matter of Trust on Facebook

Matter of Trust, established in San Francisco in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action, and materializes flourishing systems to promote environmental sustainability. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus, and eco-education.

The organization's Hair Clippings for Oil Spills program has been cleaning up oil spills in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond by repackaging donated hair and fur into highly absorbent hairmats and booms. Bravo reality TV show, "Tabitha's Salon Takeover" and Jean Paul Mitchell Systems have already embraced Matter of Trust as sponsors and donors. Matter of Trust has also been recently featured on the Today Show, the Wall Street Journal, and PBS.

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

###

May 4, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill Clean Up Hopes to Create Green Jobs in US

SAN FRANCISCO -- Due to the overwhelming national response of 400,000 pounds of hair donations to clean up Gulf Coast oil slick with make-shift booms; an ecological non-profit, Matter of Trust, is working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin a National Fiber Recycling & Oil Boom Making System in the US that could stimulate the economy.

CREATING A SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY

Although the Gulf Coast is an immediate priority for such a recycling program, communities worldwide may also need to take precautionary measures to protect harbors, fishing industries, and wildlife. Globally, approximately 2600 small oil spills occur throughout a given year. Matter of Trust hopes to work with public officials to build kiosks in local communities to have hair businesses regularly supply recycled hair reserved to absorb oil spill accidents.

"Along with preserving the environment in both the short-term and long-haul, we hope this recycling program will also create green jobs, namely picking up donated materials and constructing booms," says Executive Director and Founder of Matter of Trust, Lisa Gautier. "We dream that this will also stimulate the US textile industry to make oil-absorbing hairmats locally."

Once donated hair clippings are collected, this recycling process could function in its own efficient, closed loop ecosystem. As hair absorbs oil from a spill, the soiled hair can later be composted into fertilizer with the help of worms. Since 2007, Matter of Trust has supported research for the treatment of hazardous waste oil collected by hair mats.

WAVES OF HAIR

The first wave of hair and nylon donations Matter of Trust has coordinated this week is resulting in "Boom B Q" parties of volunteers joining to pack donated nylons with the 400,000 lbs of hair delivered to several addresses along the Gulf Coast.

As public outpouring of these donations continue from hair salons, nylon manufacturers, and individuals across all 50 states and beyond, Matter of Trust asks that donors continue to register on the organization's donor database, Excess Access, and to be patient as the oil slick progresses. The organization is coordinating this effort to make sure that the nylon and hair donations go where the Gulf Coast needs it most. Addresses used for the first wave of donations may not be the same for the next waves.

According to Gautier, "The public response has been amazing. We are getting hundreds of nylon and hair donation registrations an hour. This movement is bigger than we ever imagined!"

WHY HAIR?

VISUALS:
Youtube Video: How hair soaks up oil spills
Photos of hair boom and hair mats

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Matter of Trust on Twitter
Become of fan of Matter of Trust on Facebook

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

###

June 1, 2009

YOUR OILY HAIR MEANS YOUR HAIR COLLECTS OIL...
AND THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR OIL SPILLS

beachcup

SAN FRANCISCO... Matter of Trust, an ecological public charity, is helping to revolutionize and green oil spill cleanup through innovative thinking that promotes environmental sustainability. And you might already be a part of this program every time you get your hair cut. Thousands of salons, pet groomers, and wool farmers (alpaca, llama, sheep, goat...) are donating waste fibers to Matter of Trust so that they can be made into oil spill clean up mats and containment booms to help keep our water ways clean.

There are over 300,000 salons in the US alone (although we receive hair from many generous international stylists as well). Each salon sweeps up a pound of hair clippings a day on average. "This is a community building and extremely pleasant way for the general public to be involved in helping the environemnt. It's a delightful program!" says Lisa Craig Gautier, Matter of Trust founder. The hair mat was invented by hair stylist Phil McCrory (see SmartGrow.net). Phil and Lisa have been promoting this natural solution for years. However, word really got out when the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco brought this to the attention of the media just as the green revolution was reaching the tipping point. (see photos)

To close the loop, once the hair mats are used in clean up we are working with Thomas Azwell and Norman Terry's lab at UC Berkeley to research thermophyllic composting and vermiculture (worms) to breakdown the toxic mess and make fertilizer as an alternative to the conventional incineration of oil spill waste. (see press release below)

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

FEBRUARY 4, 2009

WHAT'S NEXT... OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD

carroll
Our Carroll Street warehouse - Sylvia, Carlos and Kyle on break in the computer lab

"Greening industry is important to us. We have seen through our hair mat program how textiles, like so many other manufacturing sectors, need to return to the US," says Gautier. Manufacturing doesn't mean sweatshop. It is dignified, worthy, paying and useful work which trumps unemployment and dead end desk jobs by a long shot. To this end, our location has an intentionally welcoming and educational atmosphere. We've set up a computer lab / breakroom for our staff. And an eco-center where workers give demos and tours. "We have great pride in skilled labor. No matter what the task, excellence is sexy, mediocrity is not. We are passionate about what we are doing and why we are doing it, so we must do it well.

We get resumes and requests daily from graduating students straining under loans. Many say that they aren't sure why they got business degrees, when they loved machine shop. We think green production is the answer. For people who hate desk jobs and want to build things and work with their hands or outdoors, we say Go For It! We've also discovered the great importance of creating an intelligent feed back loop between those on the ground and those orchestrating. Working near each other and with other local business, forming partnerships, so that techniques and products continually evolve and improve. Offshoring is only succeeding in separating us from what's next and what's new. "It's what the developed world is losing while the developing world is soaring." Gautier says. As hard as it is becoming to make our mats and containment booms locally, we are doing everything we can not to ship hair overseas to follow the textile industry.(see photos)

If you have ideas about how to make small scale mechanized felting machines, we want to hear from you! lisa@matteroftrust.org

Hair stylists work with their hands beautifully and they talk to their clients throughout the process. So they understand this perfectly. We are convinced that by word of mouth and public participation, we will hear of more and better ways to make our hair mats locally. And eventually we aim to have hair recycling done on local scales so that salons can save their shipping expense to us. Adds Gautier, "If the mats can be made near each harbor with local hair, we expect word and pride will spread even further. This could stimulate the manufacturing job market as well as the speed of which oil spills are cleaned up. We love salons - you are beautifully changing the world one head at a time!"

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

AUGUST 19, 2008

FIRST HAIR, THEN FUNGUS, AND NOW WORMS! IF IT'S GROSS, WE'RE ALL FOR IT!

wormies

SAN FRANCISCO – Matter of Trust is proud to be the fiscal sponsor for a new oil spill remediation project in the Presidio. Cleaning up oil still means you have the bags of waste that you've removed from the spill site. Conventionally all of this should be incinerated. But there may be other solutions.

Thomas Azwell, who is with Norman Terry's lab at UC Berkeley, is researching thermophyllic composting and vermiculture (worms) to breakdown the toxic mess and make fertilizer as an alternative to the conventional incineration of oil spill waste.

First, the waste is composted and naturally reaches detoxifying temperatures of over 160 degrees over several weeks. The bacteria in the compost piles work diligently to break down the hydro carbons in the oily mess. Then, when it's ready, it's time for the vermiculture.

Thanks to a generous grant from Patagonia, Thomas Azwell is working with our oil spill hairmats waste and he's bringing along some friends. 5000 worms will be munching away at compost heaps that are 1 part toxic waste 10 parts green waste. It is actually the bacteria in the tummies of the worms that are doing the work. But the worms are great indicators of whether or not the composting process has broken down the toxins enough for the worms to be able to digest the waste and excrete a useful fertilizer. The worms litterally rear up and back away in disgust if the waste is still too toxic.

Although, first choice is always to have professionals do oil spill clean up, as it is unhealthy and messy. However, "We love this project, because every disenfranchised area, that is coping with abandoned oil spills, has access to hair, green waste and worms. Hair mats can soak up and remove the oil from waterways. Green waste and worms can remediate the waste and produce fertilizer without incineration and release of particulate matter. If professionals aren't available to clean up the mess and years go by and cancer rates soar, it's important for communities to learn that they have the resources to inexpensively fix the problems themselves. This research is very empowering and we're delighted to be a part of it!" Lisa Craig Gautier, founder of Matter of Trust.

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

OILY HAIR MAT AND MUSHROOM LASAGNA ANYONE?
shrooms

SAN FRANCISCO (December 20, 2007) – A press conference will be held at 12 PM at the Presidio of San Francisco on Friday, December 21, 2007. It will highlight a unique research project testing the use of mushrooms to remediate oil spill pads made from human hair soaked in bunker fuel such as was leaked in the Cusco Busan oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. The press conference will take place at the scenic Presidio compost yard, located off of Lincoln Boulevard just north of Kobbe Avenue.

First, mats made from human hair, invented by hair stylist Phil McCrory of SmartGrow.net after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, were used by surfers and concerned citizens to clean up San Francisco's Ocean Beach in November of 2007. Next, Paul Stamets of Fungi.com donated Oyster mushroom spawn which shoots out millions of roots, clinging to the mesh of oil-soaked hairmats, helping to break down the hydrocarbon bonds in oil to hopefully turn the toxic waste into landscape-grade fertilizer. The natural process is called “mycoremediation."

All of the actual Cosco Busan oil-soaked hairmats cannot currently be used in this experiment because they are safely contained by the Unified Command Emergency Response Cleanup Contractors. Those hairmats are included in the official 19,000 gallons of recuperated toxic waste now considered to be evidence in the oil spill litigation. Meanwhile, this study has been donated a sample of similar bunker fuel from a helpful East Bay container shipping company, to demonstrate possible green alternatives for the eventual remediation of the Cosco Busan waste oil. The traditional, approved disposal practice is incineration, but this is pricey and particulate matter into the air. However with green win-win studies, not only can we breath deeply, but industry may discover a revenue stream of generating a fertilizer product while reducing their expense of disposal.

The Oily-Hairmat-Eating Mushroom Project at the Presidio is headed up by Lisa Craig Gautier, founder of Matteroftrust.org, an ecological public charity. “The amazing support and media excitement for this project has been inspiring". The applications of this organic method has world wide potential for environmental restoration. “People are attracted to it because everyone understands oily hair and can track photos on Matteroftrust.org showing how the remediation research is working away on bunker fuel and used motor oil, a worse polluter of our oceans." Says Gautier. A wide range of agencies and organizations have come together to collaborate and advise on this project, including the Presidio Trust, the California Department of Toxic Substances and Control, the San Francisco Departments of the Environment, Emergency Services and Public Health, SF Mycological Society, St. Vincent de Paul Society and The East Bay Depot For Creative Reuse.

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

November 12, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA IS REVOLUTIONIZING AND GREENING OIL SPILL CLEAN UP

sfspill
Concerned citizens pour out on to San Francisco beaches to clean Cosco Busan oil spill

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.... Over 500 concerned citizens came out to Ocean Beach in San Francisco on Sunday 11/11/07 to encourage government agencies to hire more professional toxic clean up crews. It's important that the public doesn't go out and touch this bunker fuel with their bare hands. "Where there are no volunteers or official crews, we've seen picnicking families with kids making sand castles and using the oil as decoration. Some people are picking up dog poo and oil in the same bags and putting toxic waste in public garbage cans," said Lisa Gautier of MatterOfTrust.org. So surfers and environmentalists have unofficially banded together calling themselves Kill the Spill. It's working to produce some method to the madness, while Government Agencies are concentrating on the harder-hit, closed beaches. "We believe that if the public is going out to clean up, then they really should be protected. We have these extremely efficient hair mats (absorbent oil spill clean up mats made out of human hair see http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/natural.html#mats ) and we're donating them to the cause," she adds. Matter of Trust is also coordinating individuals and companies that are donating their time and hundreds of protective tyvek paint suits, gloves, garbage bags, face masks, and tarps (to consolidate the toxic waste), as well as food and drinks to this grassroots campaign. So far, in 2 specific spots, thousands of pounds of oily hairmats have been collected in designated garbage bags. Gautier says "Kill the Spill has also put up warning signs all along Ocean Beach. We have been talking with the official agencies and contracted companies. Everyone is trying to help everyone else."

The great news is that this waste may not have to stay toxic. Since it's just hair and oil, there are remediation research possibilities, such as an oyster mushroom that may cling to the hair and eat the hair and oil while detoxifying it in a few months. A donation of $10,000 worth of oyster mushroom spawn from Paul Stamets of Fungi.com has been made to Matter of Trust and thanks to helpful information from contractors like Universal Environmental we've managed to contact The O'Briens Group , contracted for shore activity, toxic waste collection and disposal, and we hope to donate the spawn and set up a remediation site.

Other Bay Area cities and counties are asking for hair mats and even for the loose hair Matter of Trust has in storage (mailed in by thousands of philanthropic hair salons throughout the US). While this is being coordinated, Matter of Trust is also suggesting that agencies contact SmartGrow.net. They can fill industrial quantity size orders of hair mats and deliver within 4 days. Smartgrow's hair mats are made in China (typically used by professional rose growers as fertilzer, but exactly the same as the oil spill mats).

San Francisco is the "City that can" get get this cleaned up with people power and a little help from Mother Nature!

Matter Of Trust, established in 1998, is an ecological public charity that links ideas, sparks action and materializes flourishing systems. It concentrates on manmade surplus, natural surplus and eco-education.

###

Contact for Press:

Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Lisa@matteroftrust.org
415 235 2403 cell
MatterOfTrust.org
Please check out our YouTube Demos
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook

Head shots
headshotwh
Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust

lisaboom
Lisa Craig Gautier
President, Matter of Trust
Wearing the latest in Alpaca boom fashion in Louisiana during Gulf Spill May 2010.

Press

Press Releases