While brands like Liquid Plumr tend to characterize human hair as a nuisance that can make your life miserable by clogging your pipes, hair’s hydrophobic properties can actually be a boon to the environment. Matter of Trust transforms hair donated into loosely felted mats that offer many benefits to plants. The mats allow rainwater to pass through the soil without causing evaporation. The hair also allows for slow nitrogen releases into the earth. This amplifies the production and use of chlorophyll.
Matter of Trust also uses hair as a means of cleaning up oil spillages. This process has historically used synthetic materials that can lead to large quantities of non-biodegradable plastics waste. Recycled hair is durable, but it’s also biodegradable so it won’t accumulate like plastic in a landfill or the ocean.
Also, see: A pubic hair sings the ‘The Pube Song’ for Gillette Venus
Matter of Trust already solicits hair donations from consumers. Visit its site requests contributions of hair longer than one inch. The “Pubes for the Planet” push, however, is inclusive of tresses of all lengths. All the donations from the campaign will be used to fertilize a new “Pube Park” at the organization’s eco-industrial hub in San Francisco that was conceived as part of the campaign.
“Not enough people know that they can repurpose their hair waste, and also, many feel awkward talking about shaving their pubes,” said Carley Caldas, VP, brand marketing & media at Eos, told Ad Age. “We want to help empower our fans to drop this taboo and as well as learn how to think of and repurpose all excess hair waste as the renewable resource it really is.” The campaign might even inspire consumers to fertilize their home gardens or plants using their own “vagitation.”
You might be wondering if shipping muffled hair can cause more harm than good. Caldas noted that the company has “gone to great lengths to ensure the environmental impact of getting pubes to their new home does not outweigh the good green work they’re doing upon arrival.” All the packaging is 100% biodegradable, and the donations will be collected by a single vendor and shipped in a single batch to Matter of Trust. Eos has also purchased carbon offsets so that shipping has a minimal environmental impact.
Find out more about marketing and the environment.
“Eos is making it so easy to put that thatch to good use that not taking part in ‘Pubes for the Planet’ is basically a big middle finger to Mother Nature,” said Bianca Guimaraes, Mischief executive creative director and partner, in a statement.
“Mother Nature doesn’t let anything go to waste—neither should we!” added Lisa Gautier, co-founder at Matter of Trust.
This isn’t the first time Eos has created conversation around pube-scaping. Previously, Eos and Mischief were behind the “Bless Your F#@%ing Cooch” product line and campaign centered around TikTok influencer Carly Joy, who had gone viral for her post showing viewers how she shaves down there with the help of the Eos shaving cream—even without water. That campaign helped to increase sales of the brand’s shave cream 59% during the period it ran.
The “Pubes for the Planet” campaign will run through the next month, or until supplies last.