Hair salons in Europe are dumping their clippings into forests and it’s miraculous |
Every day, hair salons sweep countless hair clippings off their floors and toss them into the trash without much thought. But in parts of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, those discarded strands are finding an entirely different purpose: helping forests grow.
French recycling company Capillum has developed a surprisingly effective way to reuse human hair by turning it into biodegradable mulch that protects young trees from hungry deer. The company collects hair from participating salons and transforms it into flattened fiber sheets that can be wrapped around vulnerable saplings.
What sounds unusual at first actually solves several environmental problems at once.
A second life for salon clippings
Hair salons generate an enormous amount of waste each year. Most clippings are simply thrown away, even though human hair is remarkably durable because it is made largely from keratin, a fibrous protein that breaks down slowly over time.
Capillum saw potential in a material most people never think twice about. The company accepts hair regardless of texture, length, color, or whether it has been dyed. Once gathered, the hair is fed into a machine that minces everything together into dense fiber sheets that can be laid around the base of trees. The process transforms something typically viewed as garbage into a practical tool for conservation efforts.
Why young trees need protection
Many forests depend on saplings surviving long enough to mature and replenish the ecosystem. However, young trees often struggle in areas with large deer populations. Deer are known to chew on bark, especially during seasons when food is scarce. Because saplings have thin bark and delicate trunks, even small amounts of damage can stunt their growth or kill them entirely.
Foresters have historically relied on plastic fencing and tree guards to keep deer away. While those barriers can work well, they also create waste and require maintenance over time.
Capillum’s recycled hair mats offer another approach. The scent of human hair naturally discourages deer from getting too close to the trees, steering them toward other vegetation instead. The method protects saplings without harming wildlife.
A biodegradable alternative to plastic
Unlike plastic guards, the hair fibers gradually decompose and return nutrients to the soil. As the keratin breaks down, it releases nitrogen and amino acids that can support plant growth. That nutrient-rich quality is one reason some gardeners have long experimented with placing hair into compost piles or using it directly in garden beds. Knowing this, Capillum sells its eco-friendly hair mulch to home gardeners interested in more sustainable growing methods.
Human hair is more useful than most people realize
This is far from the first time Capillum has found creative uses for human hair. The company previously mixed hair with wool to help absorb pollutants from water because both materials naturally attract oil.
Around the world, scientists and environmental groups have similarly explored using recycled hair for oil spill cleanup, agricultural mats, and composting projects. Some studies have even examined whether hair fibers could eventually help create insulation materials or textiles.
All this to say: a routine haircut may not seem connected to forest conservation, yet thousands of discarded strands now helping protect young trees suggest otherwise. This is a brilliant example of humanity using creativity for good, and how making just one element of human life less wasteful can have a profound impact.
While a bottle of bubbles might seem out of place in a hospital setting, you might be surprised to learn that, for thousands of children around the world born with cleft lip and palate, they can be a helpful tool in comprehensive cleft care. Lilia, who was born with cleft lip and palate in 2020, is one of the many patients who received this care.
As a toddler, Lilia underwent two surgeries to treat cleft lip and palate with Operation Smile’s surgical program in Puebla, Mexico. Because of Operation Smile’s comprehensive care, it wasn’t long before her personality transformed: Lilia went from a quiet and withdrawn toddler to an exuberant, curious explorer, babbling, expressing herself with a variety of sounds, and engaging with others like any child her age.
Lilia is now a healthy five-year-old, with the same cheerful attitude and boundless energy. Her progress is the result of care at every level, from surgery to speech therapy to ongoing support at home—but it’s also evidence that small, sustained interventions throughout it all can make a meaningful difference.
Cleft Conditions: A Global Problem
Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to more than 500,000 patients worldwide with the help of generous volunteers and donors. Cleft conditions are congenital conditions, meaning they are present at birth. With cleft lip and palate, the lip or the roof of the mouth do not form fully during fetal development. Cleft conditions put children at risk for malnutrition and poor weight gain, since their facial structure can make feeding challenging. But cleft conditions can have an enormous social impact as well: Common difficulties with speech can leave kids socially isolated and unable to meet the same developmental milestones as their peers.
Surgery is a vital step in treating cleft conditions, but it’s also just one part of a much larger solution. Organizations like Operation Smile emphasize the importance of multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive, long-term care to patients across many years. This approach, which includes oral care, speech therapy, nutritional support, and psychosocial care, not only aids in physical recovery from surgery but also helps children develop the skills and confidence to eat easily, speak clearly, and engage in everyday life. This ensures that each patient receives the full range of support they need to thrive.
A Playful (and Powerful) Solution
Throughout a patient’s care, simple tools like bubbles can play a meaningful role from start to finish.
Immediately before surgery, children are often in a new and unfamiliar environment far from home, some of them experiencing a hospital setting for the first time. When care providers or loved ones blow bubbles, it’s a simple yet effective technique: Not only are the children soothed and distracted, the bubbles also help create a sense of joy and playfulness that eases their anxiety.
In speech therapy, bubbles can take on an even more important role. Blowing bubbles requires controlled airflow, as well as the ability to form a rounded “O” shape with the lips, which are skills that children with cleft conditions may struggle to develop. Practicing these skills with bubbles allows children to gently strengthen their facial muscles, improve breath control, and support the motor skills needed for speech development. Beyond that, blowing bubbles can help kids connect with their parents or providers in a way that’s playful, comforting, and accessible even for very young patients.
Finally, bubbles often follow patients with cleft conditions home in the “smile bags” that each patient receives when the surgical procedure is finished. Smile bags, which help continue speech therapy outside of the hospital setting, can contain language enrichment booklets, a mirror, oxygen tubing, and bubbles. While regular practice with motor skills can help with physical recovery, small acts of play help as well, giving kids space to simply enjoy themselves and join in on what peers are able to do.
Bubbles at Home and Beyond
Today, because of Operation Smile’s dedication to comprehensive cleft care, Lilia is now able to make friends and speak clearly, all things that could have been difficult or impossible before. Instead of a childhood defined by limitation, Lilia—and others around the world—can look forward to a childhood filled with joy, learning, discovery, friends, and new possibilities.
CTA: Lilia’s life was changed for the better with the care she received through Operation Smile. Find out how you can make an impact in other children’s lives by visiting operationsmile.org today.
Every week, Dana Chitucescu grabs a bag, walks around her home in the Transylvanian village of Pianu de Jos. She’s collecting something her neighbors happily hand over: empty bottles and cans.
The 51-year-old brings them to her local shop, drops them off, and walks out with 40 brand-new Romanian leu in her pocket, about $9 USD. She uses it to feed her seven cats.
It’s a small thing, nothing, really. But it also, somehow, encapsulates the story of how an entire country is changing the way it thinks about trash.
From zero to hero: Romania used to be Europe’s worst recycler
Not long ago, Romania ranked dead last in the European Union for recycling. Three-quarters of the country’s waste—74%—went straight into landfills. The environmental impact was catastrophic: rivers became clogged with plastic. Picturesque roadsides were buried under litter.
The European Environment Agency even flagged Romania as being at serious risk of missing its recycling targets for years in a row. It looked like a problem without a solution.
Here’s how RetuRO works: when you buy a bottled or canned drink in Romania—water, soda, beer, anything—you pay an extra deposit of .50 Romanian leu. That’s about 11 cents in US dollars. When you finish the drink and bring the empty container back to the store, you get your money back. Voila!
That’s it. That’s the whole idea.
On top of that, Romania has made it ridiculously simple for citizens to recycle. Supermarkets have automated reverse vending machines that scan the container, crush it, and then credit your deposit on the spot. Smaller shops handle returns manually. And crucially, the program accepts plastic, aluminum, and glass; the latter, which most countries’ deposit systems skip altogether because glass is heavy and expensive to transport.
RetuRO launched in November 2023 as a partnership between the Romanian government, beverage producers, and retailers, meaning everyone had skin in the game. Everyone had a reason to want to make it work.
What happened next was remarkable
Within months, something shifted in Romania. The recycling numbers, of course—those went through the roof—but also, something deeper. The way people regarded bottles and cans changed. Containers stopped feeling like garbage and became,........