1 · A garden requests hair
A community growing site says how many Orange Bags it has capacity to accept.
Hackathon · About us
What we built and learned in one day
hairCollective connects something one local business throws away with something a nearby community grower can use.
The question we tested
Could suitable hair move from a local barber to a local community garden without creating another complicated collection service?
We started in Whitechapel with one bright Orange Bag, one local route and a simple live dispatch board.
The problem we found
Cut hair often goes into general waste because there is no simple local alternative
Today we spoke directly to five local barbers and salons. All five told us their cut hair currently goes into general waste. One busy barber reported producing around seven bags every week.
At the other end of the journey, one local community growing organisation was willing to explore receiving suitable untreated hair for composting and soil improvement.
Local barbers have hair they cannot currently use.
A local grower is open to exploring it as a compost input.
Our prototype focuses on making that handoff practical.
Why hair?
Why hair may be useful in compost
Hair is largely made from keratin, a nitrogen-rich protein. Research has measured human hair material at around 16% nitrogen by weight.
That does not make hair an instant fertiliser. Keratin is tough, so its nutrients are released slowly as it breaks down. That makes suitable untreated hair interesting as a potential ingredient in composting and soil-improvement systems.
What we built
The process begins with a garden request
The system starts only when somewhere local actually wants the material.
2 · A barber fills one
A participating barber sees that demand and taps “1 Orange Bag ready.”
3 · A volunteer claims it
Someone already travelling nearby claims the collection when it suits them.
4 · The garden confirms it
The bag reaches its next use and the garden confirms receipt for composting.
Prototype personas
The three people involved
These are illustrative prototype personas, not quoted interview participants.
Sarah · Garden
Needs useful local compost inputs.
She shouldn't receive random bags of material she hasn't asked for.
hairCollective: Sarah requests exactly what her site has capacity to explore using.
Mo · Barber
Has around seven bags of hair each week.
The easiest option is currently to put it in general waste.
hairCollective: Mo fills an Orange Bag only when local demand exists and taps “Bag ready.”
Pete · Volunteer
Has ten minutes on a journey he is already making.
He wants to contribute locally without committing to a half-day volunteer shift.
hairCollective: Pete claims one small, specific job and completes the handoff.
A small contribution from each person
Sarah makes a request, Mo fills a bag and Pete carries it over.
hairCollective helps them coordinate the handoff.
What we learned today
What we know, and what we still need to learn
Observed today
5
local barber and salon conversations
5 / 5
said cut hair currently goes into general waste
~7 bags/week
reported by one busy barber
1 local grower
open to exploring suitable hair as a compost input
1 prototype
matching demand, supply and volunteer collection
Still to prove
- ?How much does one Orange Bag actually weigh?
- ?What proportion of salon hair meets our untreated-hair criteria?
- ?How much hair can a real compost system comfortably absorb?
- ?How quickly does it break down in local conditions?
- ?How often will gardens actually request it?
- ?Will volunteers repeatedly claim short journeys?
- ?Does the environmental benefit remain positive once transport and handling are included?
We have not yet proved that London needs a hair-recycling network. This first experiment is a practical way to find out whether the local handoff works.
Responsible Consumption & Production
Why SDG 12?
hairCollective explores one practical question: can something currently treated as waste stay useful for longer by connecting it to nearby demand?
The experiment most directly relates to SDG 12.5 — reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. It also has secondary relevance to more efficient resource use under SDG 12.2.
What happens next?
Test one complete collection
Next
- Measure one Orange Bag.
- Run one real collection.
- Deliver it to one participating growing site.
- Track what happens to it.
Then: prove repetition
Can the same barber → volunteer → garden loop happen every week without someone manually coordinating it?
If it works in Whitechapel, test whether the model can connect other local producers and growing sites.
The bigger possibility
Starting with what we can test locally
hairCollective starts with compost because it is simple and local. Human hair may ultimately have other uses — from absorbent materials and textiles to composites and keratin-based products — but those are future pathways, not today's proposition.
Today we are testing something smaller: can seven bags from one barber find a useful home nearby?
Longer-term hypothesisJourney to financial sustainability+
These stages are possibilities to investigate, not outcomes validated by today's experiment.
Stage 1: Day 1 MVP
Today- Portal
- 1-Tap bag flag, live volunteer claim board
- Material output
- Raw organic compost input
- Economic model
- Social Enterprise / Grant
Stage 2: Diversified
- Portal
- Batch routing, material quality tracking
- Material output
- Mulch mats, hydroponic pucks
- Economic model
- B2B garden supply sales
Stage 3: The Hub
- Portal
- Drop-off scanning, co-working desk booking
- Material output
- Spun cordage, felted textiles
- Economic model
- Cafe & space rental revenue
Stage 4: Regional
- Portal
- Council waste API, merchant e-commerce
- Material output
- Dog leads, belts, industrial mats
- Economic model
- Municipal waste contracts
See the prototype in action
Open the Whitechapel board, or use the demo to follow a bag from a garden request to collection and delivery.