In Mexico City, the hair that falls in a barbershop can end up cleaning the canals of Xochimilco in the south and open the possibility for the axolotl, an endangered species, to return to its habitat. “We are going to bring them back,” Josefina González assures EFE. Along with her husband, Roberto, she runs an axolotarium in Xochimilco that began with two specimens in 2021 and now houses over 60, along with dozens of eggs. In one of the last refuges for the axolotl, there is hope that this amphibian will once again swim in the waters that Josefina saw clean as a child and that now look turbid, polluted, and without the endemic species that once inhabited the canals. The axolotl — the mascot of the FIFA World Cup in the capital — has practically disappeared from Xochimilco in the last decade. Census data dropped from registering fewer than 300 specimens per square kilometer to none, explains Michel Balam of the Independent Community for Environmental Management (CIMA) and the Axolotl Sanctuary project. This is largely due to the “brutal” pollution of the water, which includes domestic and commercial discharges, bacteria, and heavy metals, he warns. A hair-based solution to save the axolotls To try to reverse this deterioration, filters made from human hair are installed in the canals of Xochimimilco. Each filter contains about a kilogram of hair capable of trapping up to five times its weight in pollutants. Attached to trajineras (traditional boats), the devices are being tested in the water to bring this technology to the boats that navigate the canals. Since last October, this environmental project has placed about twenty filters along the waterways. “Imagine if we had 500 trajineras with these devices; we would be cleaning the water every day,” Balam states. After remaining in the water for about two months, the filters are removed and treated with bacteria that break down oils and fats. This allows them to be reused or integrated into the soil without generating waste, whether in agriculture or other processes. “It may seem magical that hair does this, but it’s not. It's millions of years of evolution that have made this fiber, which served us to trap oil and fat and gave us that extra coating, now useful for remediating contaminated water bodies,” explains Mattia Carenini, founder of Matter of Trust Latam. That same property has also led to hair being used in oil spills, such as in Veracruz, where the organization has worked with communities to train them in its safe use and management. According to the expert, the material can adhere to hydrocarbons and facilitate their collection, although its effectiveness depends on the conditions of the spill, and there are risks in its disposal, such as burns or cancer. From the barbershop to the water to ‘save’ lives To make the hair filters possible, the organization has built a network of 33 salons and barbershairs across the country that collect an average of two kilograms of hair per month (202 kilograms by 2025). In a barbershop in the State of Mexico, on the outskirts of the capital, the hair that falls to the floor ceases to be waste and becomes part of this process. While getting a haircut, customer Luis admits he didn't know his hair would end up helping the axolotl, but says he feels satisfied to contribute his “grain of sand.” Javier Rangel, co-owner of JR Barber Studio, shares that this is precisely his motivation for joining the network: “This way, we show that small actions, even a small barbershop, can help change the world for our children in the future.” “There is a sustainable business model, for them and for us, collectively,” concludes Constanza Soto, co-founder of Matter of Trust Latam. The initiative is part of an international network that has used hair to clean water and regenerate soils in different countries for over two decades, a model that is now seeking to be scaled up in Mexico.
