Now You Can Recycle Your Dog’s Hair
Recycled pet hair is being put to good use
Take your recycling to the next level: Leftover pethair clippings can now be recycled thanks to a newly launched hair-collection service from Green Groomers Collective. Instead of ending up in the landfill, the hair is saving seabirds and helping to regenerate soil via compost.
The founders are not actually groomers but hairdressers—as Green Salon Collective, they have been recycling hair from salons for two years now and have recycled close to 10 tonnes of hair.
“One of the founders has a Schnauzer and began putting Schnauzer hair into the Green Salon Collective process and found dog hair was just as good if not better than human hair!” says Mia, Customer Support for Green Groomers Collective.
Following requests from salons asking if they accept pet hair, they launched Green Groomers Collective specifically for the grooming industry.
Participating grooming salons collect the hair in a provided box, charging each client a $1 eco fee which covers the recycling costs. The recycled hair is used in all sorts of extraordinary ways, from creating compost to cleaning up oil spills. Hair booms and hair mats are created by tightly packed hair clippings of any length into cotton or nylon tubes. Placed on water or beaches, they are remarkably effective at stopping the spread of oil, saving wildlife and the natural environment.
Green Groomer Collective is currently operational in all of the UK and Ireland, with plans to be in many European and Asian countries by the end of the year. North America will hopefully follow in 2023. Find them at greengroomerscollective.com.