Are you planning to Cut or Shave your hair this World's Greatest Shave?
What if your impact could go even further than hitting your donation target?
With many participants showcasing long locks before their Cut or Shave, providing a hair donation is a great way to further help Australians facing blood cancer.
Treatment causes many people with blood cancer like leukaemia (leukemia), lymphoma and myeloma to lose their hair.
We've partnered with Sustainable Salons to help recycle your hair into charitable wigs. Doing this ensures people with cancer have access to quality wigs.
Hair donated to Sustainable Salons can also be made into hair booms – collections of hair used to soak up oil or chemical waste in a land or ocean spill. This means any form of hair you Cut or Shave for the World's Greatest Shave can help benefit the planet.
To learn more about how Sustainable Salons is improving the lives of those with hair loss and helping the environment click here.
When deciding if your hair donation will best suit being made into a wig or a hair boom, consider how much hair you have. The length of your hair will impact which option you can choose.
For an easy to understand visual instruction guide, read our Hair Donation Guide or follow the steps below.
A great way to donate hair if you Cut or Shave is through ponytail donations.
When putting your hair in multiple ponytails, a minimum of 20cm is required to donate to create a wig. Your hair can be coloured, but must be clean and free of hair treatment products prior to the cut. Sustainable Salons is a trusted partner who can help you donate your ponytails.
To donate your ponytails, follow these three steps:
01 - Prepare
Using dry hair, section and secure each ponytail 1 to 2 cm down from where you will cut. Then, plait each ponytail and tie it tightly at the end.
02 - Measure
Measure your ponytails to ensure they can be used to make wigs. All ponytails of 20cm+ are accepted, but any amount above 36cm+ is ideal.
03 - Cut!
Now it's time for the fun part – cutting your hair. Cut 1 to 2cm above the elastic of each ponytail.
If you are keen to donate your hair but don't have 20cm+ to donate, recycling your hair is a great way to still make impact!
Sustainable Salons have a great network of hair stylists who can collect any hair clippings that can be recycled into hair booms to mop up oil spills in our oceans. This type of hair donation requires the hair to be dry and clean.
Our partners at Sustainable Salons have a handy Salon Locator where you can locate salons in your area that will donate your hair for you. These also include barbers so people with all types of hair can donate.
If you are participating in a World's Greatest Shave event and will not be going to a Sustainable Salon for your Cut or Shave, there are ways to send your donation through the post.
Sending my hair donation
01 - Donating your ponytails
If you are donating your ponytails, place them in a zip lock bag and mail in a postage envelope to:
World’s Greatest Shave Ponytails
c/o Sustainable Salons
GPO BOX 322 SYDNEY, NSW 2001
02 - Donating hair clippings
If you are donating hair clippings or hair shorter than 20cm, please place them in a separate zip lock bag and post to the same Sustainable Salons address above.
How your hair donation helps our blood cancer charity
By choosing to Shave or Cut your hair in the World's Greatest Shave and then making a hair donation, you'll take your impact even further. You'll be helping to make living with blood cancer less scary, all while looking after our planet and contributing to the creation of much needed charitable wigs.
Now, that's bloody beautiful.
