Shrimp Boats Cleaning BP Oil Spill - Credit: Eric Gay from AP
The cleanup of the April 20th BP oil spill is getting desperate. Shrimp boats are collecting as much oil as they can, but 5,000 barrels a day is overwhelming. The national guard is setting up a plastic fence along the entire coast. Some individuals are even sacrificing their fashion: they’re stuffing pantyhose with human hair in an effort to absorb oil approaching the shore.
The residents sacrificing their hair may be elated to hear that technology exists to spare their hair. A company called AbTech sells sponges specifically designed to clean up oil spills. They’re called Smart Sponges and they absorb oil while repelling water. Even when they’re saturated with oil, they float for easy retrieval. After retrieval they can be safely transported to waste-to-energy power plants and burned to generate electricity.
It’s a no-waste solution to BP’s blunder off the coast of the United States. And everyone can keep their pantyhose on.
Galen produces the BlueTech Blog. He's worked on sustainability projects as a student at Whitworth University, as a teacher at the UN RCE USD in Tongyeong, South Korea, and writes occasionally for a leading sustainability blog. 
