"It's been probably a month. Yeah, it's been a long process." John Slopecki has been looking for someone, anyone, to take a look at his idea. "This is the first time we've been invited down to actually do a demonstration," he says.

An aspen-fiber blanket designed to catch oil and stop beach erosion.
"It's EPA approved as an absorbent, and what we want to do here is try and catch the sheet flow of the water coming up with the oil."

Slopecki's idea is one of several innovations presented to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Some of the ideas have been successfully used before.

Bio-soft spray has been used in past spill situations to polish oil-stained sand. "To help clean the beaches in a way that's environmentally-friendly."

Right now, mounds of tar are collected daily, then taken to landfills. The DEP has received about 300 alternative ideas. "There's no grease, no residue, no grime, nothing."

Some of the ideas are being given the chance to show off their potential on some of Pensacola's oil-soaked beaches. "If there's a way to just use absorbent and not have to pick up all this sand and haul it, that would be preferable. That would be a good thing."

Meanwhile, a bedding company in West Tennessee is busy supplying pads to BP to help sop up floating oil. The company is shipping two tractor-trailer loads of mops per week. Plant officials hope to double that amount soon.