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A lake is filled with oil. Thousands donated their hair to help soak it up.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/10/20/lake-maracaibo-venezuela-oil-spill-hair-proyecto-sirena/A lake is filled with oil. Thousands donated their hair to help soak it up.
By María Luisa Paúl
Updated October 20, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT|Published October 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
For years, Selene Estrach has seen how Venezuela’s crumbling oil industry has taken a toll on Lake Maracaibo, one of the world’s largest and oldest lakes. Once a symbol of the country’s oil wealth, its waters are now coated with iridescent slicks and swirls of neon green algae blooms that can be seen from space.
[...]
That’s why Estrach, a 28-year-old environmental activist, was determined to find a way to help. She founded Proyecto Sirena, a national network of activists dedicated to saving the lake using an unorthodox, yet bountiful, material.
[...]
Estrach has spent weeks huddled inside a lab at the University of Zulia, where she is a student, trying to replicate how the Matter of Truth nonprofit used hair after past oil spills. The results are promising, she said, with her tests indicating that about two pounds of hair can soak up between 11 and 17 pounds of oil.
She and her crew plan to stuff hair into mesh nets resembling pantyhose that will be placed in Lake Maracaibo. The nets — or boons — will essentially be floating hair sausages that will surround oil slicks to prevent them from spreading or separating, Estrach said. They’re also using hair to create furry, mat-like devices that can be used to clean up the shore, she said. Estrach and her team will put both hair-filled items to the test in Lake Maracaibo next week.
[...]
By María Luisa Paúl
Updated October 20, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT|Published October 20, 2023 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
For years, Selene Estrach has seen how Venezuela’s crumbling oil industry has taken a toll on Lake Maracaibo, one of the world’s largest and oldest lakes. Once a symbol of the country’s oil wealth, its waters are now coated with iridescent slicks and swirls of neon green algae blooms that can be seen from space.
[...]
That’s why Estrach, a 28-year-old environmental activist, was determined to find a way to help. She founded Proyecto Sirena, a national network of activists dedicated to saving the lake using an unorthodox, yet bountiful, material.
[...]
Estrach has spent weeks huddled inside a lab at the University of Zulia, where she is a student, trying to replicate how the Matter of Truth nonprofit used hair after past oil spills. The results are promising, she said, with her tests indicating that about two pounds of hair can soak up between 11 and 17 pounds of oil.
She and her crew plan to stuff hair into mesh nets resembling pantyhose that will be placed in Lake Maracaibo. The nets — or boons — will essentially be floating hair sausages that will surround oil slicks to prevent them from spreading or separating, Estrach said. They’re also using hair to create furry, mat-like devices that can be used to clean up the shore, she said. Estrach and her team will put both hair-filled items to the test in Lake Maracaibo next week.
[...]
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
gg