the stuff in the picture is wool from an English Leicester sheep [Leicester Longwool for UK readers]
despite being long stapled, strong and lustrous [or perhaps for those very reasons] it is worth nothing at the wool auctions in Australia.
it could however be of great value in dealing with the oil spewing up the the Gulf of Mexico
oil loves to adhere to felt and especially to felt made of strong wool [or human hair for that matter]
having a felt barrier on the inside of those floating walls they're putting about would be a way of collecting oil. my imagination hasn't run to how it might be dealt with after that [or with how it would be transported]
perhaps mass composting in old open-cut mines?
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ReplyDeleteBP could win the hearts of the world using an innovative solution. Send them a note I understand they're open for suggestions.
ReplyDeleteA good idea India. It would certainly much better than all of the fleeces winding up on a fire or landfill site as so many of them do these days.
ReplyDeleteGood thinking!
ReplyDelete...The wool on the picture looks marvelous!How can this be worth nothing at the wool auctions in Australia? Are there too many?
..as for the mass-composting: using the assistance of mushrooms- such as oyster mushrooms- grown on the felt mats to absorb the oil and transform it into a nontoxic compost.
ReplyDeletei like the notion of the oyster mushrooms
ReplyDeleteand
the reason that lovely wool brings zip income [other than attempting to market it personally to spinners] is that the Australian Wool promotion authorities have an unshakeable belief that the only wool worth anything is Merino
sigh.
Great idea. Someone (I forget who now) once had the same idea using duck down and feathers - It is the reason why the birds have such a hard time when they get oil on them, feathers absorb 10 times their weight in oil or something like that. I remember thinking at the time, that it was a pity we didn't have a huge surplus of feathers sitting somewhere.
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