Get a haircut to save the seas… This is not a joke but our hair is the best filter to protect the seas from oil slicks and oil derivatives.

The idea belongs to the hairdresser Dimitrios Girtzalis who in collaboration with the University of West Attica, ELKETHE built "walls" of hair protection.

The inventive and versatile hairdresser with environmental sensitivities speaks to Newsbomb.gr on the occasion of the birth of this idea. The shipwreck of the Holy Zone in the Saronic Gulf shook him and made him think of this special and original idea. Everything else took its course.

At the moment, the idea of "sailing" in the waters of Mexico. Really a special person…

You are a hairdresser and you make hair filters that for the prevention, protection and cleaning of the Greek seas from oil slicks and oil derivatives… How did this idea come about?

"RESTIA is an idea that started after the accident with the ship Agia Zoni in the Saronic Gulf. As a hairdresser I know that hair lubricates, and retains oiliness. whenever I initially assumed that the hairs that are thrown in the trash could be used to collect petroleum products from the environment. I shared this idea with the University of West Attica, ELKETHE where they proved that human hair as well as animals are the best collector of oils compared to any other currently available.
Then we founded RESTIA and in recent years we collect hair from hairdressers and pet groomers and make filters to protect the environment.

Have you put filters in some sea areas? In which; Have you put it abroad?

"To date, pilot installations of filters have been made for research purposes in various places, but we hope that very soon it will be one of the main protection tools in our country. Restia uses a machine to make army filters to make filters. All our effort has to do with the production and supply of the competent bodies-companies with the filters! "There are actions that we undertake to install filters on beaches and ports, but they are on a very small scale."

Have companies from abroad been involved in this project?

"Fortunately we are working with Matter of trust.org in America which is doing the same to us after the accident in the Gulf of Mexico where they started investigating it so there is a very good transfer of knowledge and technology on the filter"!

How do your hairdressers react when you tell them that their hair will be cut to protect the seas? Do they believe it?

"People in general, when they hear it, are happily excited about us. The universities in Greece and abroad have proved what we say to be the most efficient way at the moment in the collection of petroleum products."

Are other hairdressers "included" in your idea?

"The circle of hairdressers and pet groomers is growing day by day and this shows their great sensitivity for issues related to the environment."

We live in a country where the sea is the dominant element, what is the message you are sending?

"Together we can have our seas in Hair."