I haven't read anything anywhere (may have been here but didn't see it) about using the abundant resource of hair - from salons, groomers, barber shops, etc. The hair is woven into a mat and it soaks up the oil from both land and sea AND GULF!
Best part:
"As an added bonus, hair can be wrung out and used again, and the oil can be recovered as well" (CNN ).
This is one site:
http://www.greenoptions.com/wiki/recycling-human-hair-to-make-eco-friendly-products
Oil Spill Hair Mat
Most people who follow the green movement can recall 1989’s Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. It is considered one of the worst man-caused environmental disasters in North American history, spilling over 10.8 million gallons of oil into the Alaskan sea. In fact, Alabama hair stylist Phil McCrory watched on television as it was happening, and it was what he saw on the oil-soaked animals that gave him an idea.
McCrory noticed how the fur on otters helped to trap the oil, so he came up with the idea to use human hair to clean up oil spills. He showed his idea to NASA and the rest is hair history! His idea helped inspire the OttiMat, which soaks up about 7.8 gallons of oil in less than 3 minutes. It can also be wrung out and reused more than 100 times.
Also, hair can be stuffed into nylon netting. This may be the best if hair mats are not readily available. I saw on Google that California has an abundance of hair stored already - overflowing capacity.
I know this is short and may be against the rules, but maybe the KOS community will take up the cause to push for using the renewable resource of HAIR to clean up the mess and collect the oil for use.
If I'm breaking the rules, it's worth it to try to get people to look at this possibility.