Sustainable Salons
Sustainable Salons is a revolutionary resource recovery program designed for salons across Australia and New Zealand to achieve zero waste. And we're excited to announce that we've joined the growing ranks of like-minded salons who have partnered up with Sustainable Salons.
Sustainable Salons began in 2010 when hairdresser, Paul Frasca, and sustainable fashion guru, Ewelina Soroko, travelled around Australia on the hunt for waste. After 160 salons, $7,000 in petrol and 4 months later, they found that Australian salons were sending 1 million kilograms of infinitely recyclable aluminium foil every year to landfill. Why? Because it had nowhere else to go. And so, the concept for Sustainable Salons was born.
Now, 10 years later, they’ve created a network that sees 95% of salon materials are diverted from landfill:
Plastics are collected, cleaned and up-cycled into new products. Namely, outdoor furniture and even glasses and sunglasses. Yes, sunglasses from shampoo bottles! Stunning!
All salon metals (including foil) and paper are sold for recycling, and the proceeds are donated to OzHarvest and KiwiHarvest to provide meals for hungry people.
Hair is collected from the salon floor and stuffed into stockings to make Hair Booms that help soak up oil spills in the ocean. They’re also working on making a mat from the hair to soak up oil spills for the garage and petrol stations.
All collected ponytails 20cm or longer are distributed to charitable organisations to create wigs for those suffering from cancer or alopecia.
Chemicals are collected, pooled and sent to chemical recycling plants where they’re neutralised and turned into recycled water for use in construction and road works.
The Sustainable Salons depots have created local jobs across Australia and New Zealand. A chunk of that employment has been fulfilled by people with a disability to provide them with purposeful work.
Research into using a specific type of dog hair for insulation is underway and the prospect of including Dog Groomers into the fold of salons is underway.
Pretty amazing, right? We think so too! Needless to say we’re excited and inspired by the partnership. But it’s a lot of work. And as we know, nothing comes for free. So what’s the catch? Well, there’s no catch. But there is a fee.
Contributing to the program can't be done without the support of our amazing clients. Sustainable Salons believe that we’re all responsible for the ethical disposal of any waste produced by a product or service we choose to consume. So now, each time you visit us, your service bill will include a small Sustainable Salons fee of just $3. This fee supports our enriched commitment to sustainability without it compromising the quality of service we offer. The Sustainable Salons Fee goes toward supporting a range of important sustainability and community initiatives:
40% – Resource collection and redirection
25% – Implementing green practices
20% – Supporting the community
10% – Researching recycling solutions
5% – Awareness and education
All of that for $3? That’s more value than a Happy Meal! And better for you, your conscience, and of course, our world too!
Our efforts to keep our planet, our industry, ourselves, and our clients safe and healthy continues. Aligning ourselves with Sustainable Salons is another step in that direction for us all. We’re incredibly proud to be part of it. And we know our clients will be proud to part of something that stretches far beyond their salon visit as well.