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10 Easy Ways to Green Up Your Salon Space
Healthy Hairdresser sponsor Sola Salon Studios helped us put together some quick Earth Month-inspired ideas to get greener at work.
April 24, 2017
Image courtesy of Sola Salon Studios
3 min to read
Little green efforts add up! That’s the approach Healthy Hairdresser is taking with the help of our sponsor, Sola Salon Studios, in suggesting small ways to make your studio—or any salon space—more eco-friendly. Start now before Earth Month ends, and you’ll be set for the year and beyond.
Repurpose decor materials. Make recyclable and repurposed materials a priority when you decorate your space. “Upcycled lamps, recycled wood chairs—even thrift store finds qualify, since your purchase keeps items out of landfills,” the Sola team notes. “Brownie points if the products you purchase support a local business, which not only bolsters your neighborhood’s economy but also cuts down on shipping waste and gas consumption."
Add oxygen. Welcome plants into your space. They produce oxygen, which can offset carbon dioxide emissions and improve the air you and your clients breathe. They look fresh and pretty, too!
Lighten laundry impact. Conserve water and energy by waiting until you have a full load of towels before running your washer, and use an all-natural laundry detergent for extra eco-awareness.
Don’t dispose. One of the simplest ways to immediately get greener is to identify disposable items you normally buy and replace that habit with sturdy items that will stay out of the landfill for a long time.
Clean green. Keep your space squeaky clean with eco-friendly cleaning products. Read labels, and avoid ingredients like chlorine, phthalates, ammonia and sodium hydroxide. Consider stocking your supply cabinet with chlorine-free paper towels made with recycled content, or switch to microfiber cloths that can be washed and reused.
Go paperless. Lose the paper invitations and ad flyers! Build your marketing campaigns around social media, email and texting to establish effective, ongoing communication with your clients. Store your files in a cloud-based system rather than paper file folders, and print the little paper you do need—business cards—on post-consumer recycled paper.
Embrace the dark. Good lighting is essential for creating beautiful hair color and styles, but make sure to switch off the lights in unused rooms.
Unplug. Although most hair tools are not drawing electricity when not in use, electrical appliances that continue to show a clock, light, LED or LCD panel, as well as devices with a standby or sleep power mode, use electricity even when turned off. Consider a routine overnight unplugging of TVs, cable boxes, coffee makers, computers and stereos, and pull phone chargers out of the wall because they draw energy even without a phone attached.
Recycle regularly. Designate one trash can for recycling, and place it next to your regular trash bin. Check with your local authorities to learn what is accepted and what is not, and whether different materials must be separated.
Donate hair. Take your recycling program to the next level by learning how the clippings on your floor can be valuable. Matter of Trust’s Clean Wave program recycles hair to aid in managing oil spills and to produce hair mats that municipal public works departments use in storm drains and other clean water efforts.
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