How to Help BP Oil Spill Cleanup? Get an Eco-Haircut.

It doesn't matter if someone plans to chop their long hair to a bob or just get a trim. Nori's Eco Salon will cut it, sweep it up and ship it off in hopes of helping clean up the Gulf of Mexico's oil spill.

Like hundreds of other salons (and even pet groomers) across the country, Nori's Eco Salon has teamed up with Matter of Trust, a nonprofit organization that has collected hair and to donate and help communities soak up incoming oil from this recent spill.

As it turns out, hair absorbs oil pretty efficiently.  That's why salons and pet groomers donate their discarded locks to help stuff oil containment booms, which sop up oil and protect coastlines from the approaching slick.

Nori's Eco Salon, located at Ventura Boulevard and Densmore Avenue, is a family business owned by sisters Roza and Roya Adjory and their mother, Nori Adjory.

The Adjorys started collecting clippings for the nonprofit Matter of Trust this summer and have continued to send a box of hair every two weeks. That's about eight boxes worth of hair.  But there's no way to know how much of it is actually getting to the Gulf, Roya said.

When they're not stepping up to save the Gulf, they're lowering their carbon footprint back home.

From energy-saving blow dryers to recycled office supplies, the salon maximizes its green potential. The floors are covered in natural linoleum made from linseed oil, the light bulbs are compact florescents, the insulation is recycled denim and the walls are non-toxic, they said.

Nori opened her salon 22 years ago in Encino to pursue a passion she acquired in her native Turkey. She arrived in America on a scholarship earned by marketing 50,000 wigs for the beauty company that employed her at the time.

Nori's business set its sights on higher goals when Roza began struggling with allergic reactions two years ago.  Her sister, Roya, opted for a green transition.

Nori's, a distributor of EcoColors hair dye in California, provides more than non-toxic hair products. The salon's beauty specialist, Nunei Harrington, also offers organic waxing, facials and massages.

"Nunei's facials are fantastic," Wendy Taylor, Forensic Nurse Examiner at Northridge Medical Hospital, said. "She has wonderful products, which rejuvenate skin. And you don't need surgery!"

The salon's clients consist of patients referred by doctors, pregnant women, individuals undergoing chemotherapy or people wanting a limited exposure to toxins, the owners say.

"I have been coming for seven and a half years," client Paula Nordwind said. "It's very nice. Lovely people and lovely surroundings."

Nori's offers complimentary consultation with the purchase of the EcoColors home hair kit.

"I used to taste the chemicals coming through my hair and [it] would get really dry, but coming here, that doesn't happen," Taylor said. "EcoColors lasts as long if not longer than normal hair dye. I only have to do it about every three months. And my hair feels better."

In the future Nori's Salon hopes to find the greenest way to cater to the high demand for hair straightening.