FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — A local salon owner is donating customer's hair clippings to help clean up oil spills.
Aaron Elam, the owner of Hairstream Salon on MLK Jr. Boulevard in Fayetteville and a hairstylist for nearly 10 years, says that after graduating from school in California, he came back to Fayetteville and ended up opening Hairstream, an idea his mom gave him.
The salon, a renovated 1978 Airstream trailer, sees an average of six customers daily, five days a week. Elam says that after over a year of collecting hair, he's ready to donate.
Elam says that he was surfing the web for uses for cut hair when he stumbled across Matters of Trust, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that takes hair clippings and makes oil-absorbing mats to help contain oil spills.
"I've been saving up clients' hair clippings for some time now and instead of throwing them in the trash, I’ve been collecting them in bags to donate to an organization that takes the clippings and uses them to create a waste fiber recycling system with the hair," Elam said.
"They take the recycled hair to a large warehouse where they then weave it into oil-absorbing mats that they then load up on boats and take out to oil spills in oceans, lakes, and rivers where they lay the mats on the oil, absorb it, then capture and properly dispose of it," Elam added.
Elam says that the environment is important to him, and he wants to do his part to keep it clean despite being in a landlocked state. "I think I should do my part," he said, adding that he and his dog enjoy the beauty of Northwest Arkansas and want to keep it intact.
"I love the vintage feel," Allison Macias, a client of Elam, said. "The details on the Hairstream are immaculate. It is beautiful."
Elam says his customers are big supporters of the cause, and everyone is invited to get their hair cut and added to the donation pile.
"A lot of my clients care about the environment, so they're happy to know that the hair is going to a good place," Elam said. "I will take all of it, even the smallest amount. I'll take everyone, men, women, and children."
Elam says that, best of all, he loves what he does, and he loves making an impact while doing it.
"It's not work to me, I like making people feel good and look good," Elam said. I get to do what I love and at the end of the day, the hair is going to a good place instead of being wasted in a landfill."
Elam owns a second Airstream that he’s considered turning into a second salon. Though, he says he loves being in south Fayetteville near MLK Jr. Boulevard and the Razorback Greenway.
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