Salon Khouri stylists and staff are concerned about our environment and continually seek ways to become a greener business. Stylist, Rebecca Garcia, found a perfect way for every customer to 'contribute' to our efforts by collecting hair clippings. The hair is boxed and shipped off regularly to an organization that creates hair mats to help in the collection of oil spills in our nation's waterways. Hair, including animal hair, has a natural tendency to attract and retain oils so it is the perfect medium for this greener earth task.

Since 2000, Matter of Trust, a 501(c) 3 program has collaborated with thousands of salons throughout the US and abroad to collect hair clippings to soak up oil spills. Last year over 2,600 oil spills occurred in the world. All were not high profile but most had an impact on the environment. Phil McCrory, a hair stylist from Alabama, first discovered how hair can help. He was watching CNN coverage on the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and noticed the fur on Alaskan otters completely soaked with oil. He began testing how much oil he could collect with hair clippings from his salon. He then invented the hairmat, which has other uses. Hair also provides a slow protein release that is excellent for flower growers.

There are over 300,000 hair salons in the US and each cuts an average of one pound of hair a day. Salon Khouri generously pays out of pocket for postage to send your hair clippings to Matter of Trust in San Francisco, CA. Thank you for doing your part! By the way, save your old nylon stockings and bring them in to Salon Khouri on your next visit. They can be used to bag hair clippings to provide a quick net of oil collecting buoys around smaller spills.