Hair Filters against oil polution
Restia Project
Our goal is realized with the implementation and use of the ecological filter Restia, which is created by recycling hair clippings.
"Restia": the silent wave of success
How can a shipwreck become the springboard for success? And yet: when the "Agia Zoni" sank two years ago, Dimitrios Girtzalis was shocked.
Her Ioannas Sotirhou, The Journal of the Authors
He definitely wanted to do something to help clean up the sea. Anxiety he shared with his girlfriend Chryssa Krikonis, who as a translator had a greater ease of searching on the computer.
The hairdresser himself knew that hair has the ability to absorb three to nine times its weight in oils. But they learned that it can hold petroleum, grease, oil. And finally they found the solution: a filter from hair clippings that helps clean the sea.
As incredible as it sounds, not only does it work, it has been around for years in America.
So they set out to make the natural filter here as well in order to protect their country, which is bathed by the sea from everywhere. Together with three other people close to them, they created a Social Cooperative Enterprise that has not yet dated and named it, like the filter, "Restia".
What does this word mean; "It is the silent wave that is not due to an obvious cause, but to a wind that blew in a previous time or in another area and inflates the sea while the waters are calm. We chose it because it symbolizes exactly this change we want to bring with the product we produce, the message of recycling, proving that something that is in abundance and ends up in the trash, when recycled can create something very beneficial for the environment and humans. " Chryssa Krikoni, vice-president of COINSEP, tells us, and explains exactly what the Restia filter is:
"It is a filter made exclusively of human or animal hair and has the ability to absorb and retain any oil that falls on it. Dimitrios, who is a hairdresser, thought about it, on the occasion of the shipwreck, we searched for it and found that this action has been done in America for 19 years by the charity Matter of Trust in San Francisco.
They receive donations from hairdressers, pet groomers and livestock units for their hair, their hair to be thrown away, and they make these filters in their factory. We contacted them 1.5 years ago and they gave us their lights ".
The charity not only provided them with know-how from harvesting hair clippers to making filters, but also offered them the first felting machine, "a machine of nonwovens used in the past to weave felt coats." That's how they started.
THE TEAM
Dimitrios Girtzalis, inspirer and president of Restia, is a responsible and ecologically active citizen of our country. On the occasion of the shipwreck of 2017 in domestic waters and knowing the "magic" property of the hair to collect oils while being a hairdresser by profession, he thought that the industry that is active in such an unfortunate event could offer something.
We bathe because of the collection of oils from the hair us. The hair has the property / ability to absorb from 3 to 9 times its weight in oils. Any oil (eg oil) is essentially hooked to the scales of the hair and covers its surface. In addition, it is a hydrophobic material, so it does not retain water, but only oils.
With this information and with the will of the offer as a basic guide, Dimitrios started a thorough research regarding the use of hair clippings in the removal of oil from our shores and seas. Together with his partner, Chryssa Krikoni, they came in contact with the only company active in the field of hair recycling, the Matter of Trust, based in San Francisco, USA. It is an organism that collects scraps of hair and through the method of recycling creates products that absorb oil and therefore replace the existing synthetics with propylene and other polymers, as well as chemical filters, which are extremely harmful to the sustainability of the environment.
With the full support, enthusiasm, ecological awakening and know-how of the people of Matter of Trust, Restia was transformed from an auspicious idea into a legal entity, which responsibly and seriously took on the role of introducing ecological filters in the Greek mentality.
We value your trust
Every visit helps you to protect the environment, your trial enhances the purity of our seas!
At Ikonomakis, in the context of corporate social responsibility, we collect your hair after each haircut and donate it to Restia, a social cooperative enterprise with the main purpose of preventing, protecting and cleaning Greek waters from oil spills, as well as oil products.
Its purpose is realized with the implementation and use of the ecological filter Restia, which is created by recycling hair clippings.
Today we donated 70 kilos of cut hair for this purpose!
Thank you very much for your participation together we can do more.
PARTICIPATION IN THE ACTION
Restia - Social Cooperative Enterprise.
Restia's vision is developed with the main purpose of preventing, protecting and purifying Greek waters from oil spills, as well as oil products.
Our goal is realized with the implementation and use of the ecological filter Restia, which is created by recycling hair clippings.
Contact info
Giannitson 102
Peristeri, PC 12131
Hellas
694.8200.821