In New York, popular skincare and shaving cream brand eos has put out a public call for pubic hair to aid in the fight against soil erosion.
The campaign—dubbed Pubes For The Planet—evolved out of a partnership between eos, renewable resource organization Matter of Trust, and marketing agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address.
For the campaign, eos will send out “pube pouches” along with free shaving cream samples. At a “Pube Park” in San Francisco, Matter of Trust will use the hair to make mats for various environmental purposes, such as oil-spill clean up and soil erosion prevention.
The campaign notes that human hair is durable, hydrophobic, biodegradable and a natural source of nitrogen for plants. When felted, hair mats help rain pass through soil, resulting less rainfall lost to evaporation. Such mats replace solutions otherwise made from plastic.
“When you know uses for materials, then you can sort any waste pile into a stockpile,” says MOT co-founder Lisa Gautier. “Hair is an abundant renewable resources lesson for humanity growing in front of our eyes and poking out of our bikinis. Mother Nature doesn’t let anything go to waste—neither should we!”