Hi everyone! This is an entirely unplanned post (again) because I stumbled across a super interesting video on Youtube! It’s not relevant to countries in the Global South, but I find the need to comment on it.
As you can see, the video does not emphasize how this could be a way for the Global South to manage pollution. The video is focused on encouraging people worldwide to donate their hair, so that hair mats can be made, to clear oil spills, which are sources of water pollution.
It is heartening to know that the patent was not renewed, so that more people around the world who feel inspired can imitate the project, and tackle water pollution in their own ways. As students of GE4237, we know that water pollution is not limited to the pollution we visibly see on the water surface, but also the invisible contaminants hidden within the water body. As such, this may not an effective pollution management strategy.
However, I believe that if oil spills are managed in this way, rather than through the use of chemicals or other environmentally harmful methods that we have learnt in the seminar in week 5, we can protect more ocean life.
It may not help countries in the Global South that much, but it would be interesting to see how such a venture can be played out in such countries. Have you heard of these hair mats before reading this post? I certainly didn’t!
Thanks for reading! See you in the next one! ✿