FORT PAYNE — There is an easy way for north Alabamians to help the clean-up efforts along the Gulf Coast – and they don’t have to go very far or dig into their wallet. In fact, helping out is as simple as getting a haircut.

“The first I heard about sending hair to the Gulf was on Facebook,” says Rumors owner Detha Shankles. “I stay in touch with salon owners all over the country.”

Rumors in Fort Payne is one of 400,000 hair salons nationwide collecting hair for a group called Matter of Trust, a California-based organization that takes any kind of animal or human hair and turns it into booms and small mats to soak up spilled oil.

After learning of the non-profit organization through Facebook, Shankles decided to get involved by collecting hair for clean-up efforts.

The hair clipped at Rumors is bagged and shipped once a week. Shankles says she has a friend who comes by, picks the hair up, and mails it off.  Rumors has been contributing for about a month.

“I have a great love for animals and the beach, so there was never any doubt Rumors would help out,” Shankles said. “I wish we could do more to help because it really makes me feel good to help the animals.

Salons are now sending the hair to warehouses set up along the Gulf Coast. The hair is shipped to warehouses where volunteers create mats and booms out of the hair. Booms are made by stuffing recycled nylons with hair and then tying them together.

Just one pound of hair can pick up about a quart of oil. The hair can then be wrung out and reused. Once the booms have absorbed the oil, they are lifted out of the water, and then the oil is extracted.