Belgian Project Uses Human Hair to Help the Environment
2023-01-11
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1In Belgium, a non-governmental organization called Dung Dung is recycling human hair to protect the environment.
2The organization gets the hair from coiffeurs who sweep up and collect the hair from their customers.
3The Hair Recycle project puts the hair into a machine that turns it into square mats.
4The mats can be used to absorb oil or other kinds of pollution found in water.
5The hair can also be used as part of the material for special containers.
6Patrick Janssen is the co-founder of Dung Dung.
7He said that one kilogram of hair can absorb seven to eight liters of oil or similar chemicals called hydrocarbons.
8He said the mats can help absorb pollution in water before it reaches a river.
9"Our products are all the more ethical as they are manufactured locally...they are not imported from the other side of the planet," he told the Reuters news agency.
10"They are made here to deal with local problems."
11The project said on its website that hair has powerful qualities.
12One piece of hair can support up to 10 million times its own weight.
13In addition to absorbing fat and hydrocarbons, it does not break down in water and is able to stretch a lot.
14Isabelle Voulkidis is the supervisor of a hair care business in Brussels.
15She is one of the hair dressers across the country who pays a small fee to the project to collect their hair cuttings.
16She said she wants to help the project because she knows how much can be done with the hair.
17I'm Andrew Smith.
1In Belgium, a non-governmental organization called Dung Dung is recycling human hair to protect the environment. 2The organization gets the hair from coiffeurs who sweep up and collect the hair from their customers. 3The Hair Recycle project puts the hair into a machine that turns it into square mats. The mats can be used to absorb oil or other kinds of pollution found in water. The hair can also be used as part of the material for special containers. 4Patrick Janssen is the co-founder of Dung Dung. He said that one kilogram of hair can absorb seven to eight liters of oil or similar chemicals called hydrocarbons. He said the mats can help absorb pollution in water before it reaches a river. 5"Our products are all the more ethical as they are manufactured locally...they are not imported from the other side of the planet," he told the Reuters news agency. "They are made here to deal with local problems." 6The project said on its website that hair has powerful qualities. One piece of hair can support up to 10 million times its own weight. In addition to absorbing fat and hydrocarbons, it does not break down in water and is able to stretch a lot. 7Isabelle Voulkidis is the supervisor of a hair care business in Brussels. She is one of the hair dressers across the country who pays a small fee to the project to collect their hair cuttings. 8She said she wants to help the project because she knows how much can be done with the hair. 9I'm Andrew Smith. 10Jakob Van Calster wrote this story for Reuters. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English. 11___________________________________________________________________ 12Words in This Story 13recycle -v. to reuse something, or the material in it, to reduce waste 14coiffeur -n. (foreign word, not usually used by Americans) a person who cuts other peoples' hair and makes it look nice 15sweep up -v. (phrasal) to remove dust or dirt by using a tool such as a brush or broom 16customer -n. a person or group that pays for goods or services from a business 17mat -n. a flat piece of material, usually square, that is often placed on the ground as a floor covering 18absorb -v. to take in liquid slowly and hold it 19ethical -adj. involving questions of right or wrong behavior 20____________________________________________________________________ 21We want to hear from you. 22We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 23Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.