Ok, remember our “How Your Hair Can Save the World” article from about a year ago? Now is your chance to be a superhero and do your part to save the world.

Eliot Kamenitz / The Times-Picayune

Surely most of you have heard about the massive BP Gulf Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana. Thanks to this massive blunder, state and federal authorities are all taking huge steps to protect the sensitive ecosystems and wildlife in the Gulf from the millions of gallons of crude oil spilling from a sunken rig.

There are several leaks in the sunken rig, and the cleanup efforts have encountered numerous setbacks. Oil could be gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for many more days, or even at worst-case scenario, for many more months. But there is one huge way you can help.

If your beauty school or beauty salon offers haircut services, or you or someone you know works for a dog groomer, SAVE THOSE HAIR CLIPPINGS! The hair clippings can be stuffed into the booms to absorb oil, or woven into hair absorption mats to help soak up the gushing crude oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is fast, cheap and easy to donate hair clippings to the clean up the Gulf Oil Spill – so your hair and your clients’ hair can save the world. Hairstylists, cosmetologists and beauty school students alike can band together to help clean up the BP Gulf Oil Spill now!

Synchronicity was in the air today. There’s quite a buzz in the architectural and construction industries about the evolving LEED standards. We noticed that U.S. College Search had recommended architectural school students to begin investigating the LEED standards more closely and perhaps specialize in LEED compliance for a career boost. Then we noticed that the very first LEED certified salon and spa just went into business in Atlanta! Someone was paying attention.

The Brookhaven location of Atlanta’s Natural Body Spa & Shop has just been awarded a LEED Platinum certification, which is the highest environmentally-conscious building standard. The location features beauty and cosmetology services from both a Natural Body Spa & Shop and a 10TEN Nail Bar. But the buzz about LEED standards means that they’re doing it with the lightest environmental footprint possible, and that keeps their karma in line with their community.

Natural Body dedicated themselves to boosting their environmental responsibility by using regional building materials in the design of the salon, and incorporating up to 50% post-industrial material and low-energy lighting sources for the finishing touches.

The Natural Body location is especially noteworthy because it’s in a high-density, mixed-business development with mass transit, trendy shops and green space side by side. Awesome! Natural Body gets it, and we love it!

Do you know any LEED standards building projects being planned in your area? If any of them are eco-friendly spas, salons or resorts, we want to hear about it.

Saving otters, birds and other marine life is all in a day’s work for many salons and beauty schools across the country. How can your salon or cosmetology school help care for our oceans and the creatures in it? By donating hair clippings to the Master of Trust program, Hair for Oil Spills!

As it turns out, hair is great at collecting oil out of the air and off of surfaces like the water. It’s adsorbent, meaning it clings to the pollutants (whereas absorbent means to soak up the pollutants). Participants in the Hair for Oil Spills program stuff loose, washed hair into nylon stockings. The stockings get made into “booms” which surround and soak up oil spills. Hair mats are also made for emergency oil spills and for oiled bird and mammal cages.

More than 370,000 hair salons in the United States collect about one pound of hair per day. (That’s 135 million pounds of hair per year for those who are keeping track.) The salons sweep up the hair clippings into plastic garbage bags, reuse the large boxes they get from shampoo deliveries and mail the hair.

Help your salon or beauty school help Planet Earth by joining this program. Find out more information and sign up for the Matter of Trust Hair for Oil Spills program here. It’s easy to help save our environment with excess hair. Besides, how can you resist the cute little otter guy?

The package says “organic,” but how do you know for sure?

In the world of beauty schools, beauty products and beyond, “organic” has become one of today’s hottest buzz words. As more and more consumers learn about the importance of Earth-friendliness, an “organic” label can make or break many people’s purchasing decisions.

But who decides what exactly makes a product “organic?” In Europe and the United States, consumers are still trying to decode the organic certifications they find on the labels of their favorite brands.

Amarjit Sahota, the managing director of Organic Monitor, explains that the one word that defines the organic certification process in Europe and the United States is “confusion.”

Companies and manufacturers that produce organic beauty products want their customers to feel confident in the product’s organic certification. But with three different organic certifications in the United States and two different certifications in Europe, many companies don’t know which standard to choose.

Unfortunately for consumers, beauty schools and salons, this means confusion for them as well. Each beauty product on the shelf may carry a different certification logo, and many consumers are torn between trusting that logo, or trusting a brand name.

Like many professionals in the organic product industries and the beauty industry, Sahota would like to see one global organic standard. He believes that uniformity and cohesion within the industry will benefit everyone involved – not to mention, planet Earth!

What are your thoughts on the organic issue? Do you work at a salon or beauty school going green? How do you choose your organic beauty products when you’re standing in front of that shelf in the beauty aisle?