Earth Day is April 22 and the people at Davines have come up with 15 helpful and practical Eco-Tips to help guide salons to be more environmentally friendly. These ideas are great for the salon AND the home, and will lower our impact on the planet...making life better for us and for generations to come.


1. PRODUCE OXYGEN-RICH AIR

The oxygen produced by plants and trees helps to balance out the carbon dioxide emitted during the production of the physical items around us, like the cell phone in your bag or your television, even the dining room table when you sit down for dinner every night. Put oxygen-producing plants in your salon.



2. USE RENEWABLE ENERGY

As opposed to using fossil fuels, green power – or renewable power – uses energy generated by cleaner sources such as the sun, wind, the heat of the Earth, or organic matter-based fuel. Use renewable energy and save on average 600g. / 21oz. of CO2 per kilowatt of electricity. You can find a provider for your salon by contacting your local utility company, and ask your local governments if they offer tax incentives and subsidies with the purchase of renewable energy.



3. SAVE WATER

Keep the water tap closed to save water while massaging in color, shampoo or conditioner. One drop of wasted water every two seconds equals 4000 liters annually. A great instrument for saving more water is a flow reducer, a special nozzle that, when attached to the end of a water faucet, divides the water into tiny particles and mixes it with air. It’s very inexpensive and can reduce your monthly water bill by 50%.



4. RECYCLE

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of recycling paper, plastic, glass and other materials when possible. If you have not already, create specific trash bins in your salon for each type of material. To go an important step further, be sure to recycle used color tubes at your local waste center.



5. CLEAN GREEN

One of the basic necessities of any salon is keeping the space clean and presentable. Whether you use a professional cleaning service or do it yourself, read the label carefully to choose environmentally friendly products to ensure your salon is a safer and healthier environment.



6. USE ENERGY-SAVING LIGHTS

Look closely at labels when buying light bulbs for your salon. Those marked CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) last 10 times longer and use 66% less energy than incandescent bulbs while delivering the same light levels. CFLs also reduce the release of greenhouse gas emissions and are safer because they burn at a much lower temperature than incandescent and halogen lights.



7. MONITOR YOUR SALON’S CLIMATE CONTROL

Reduce energy by monitoring your salon’s climate control. Turn down the thermostat just 4°F / about 2°C in the winter and up the same degrees in the summer to prevent the emission of nearly 1,100 pounds / 499 kilograms of carbon dioxide annually. To go another step, conduct a thorough energy audit to help identify areas of your salon (and home) that are unnecessarily consuming more power than others. Search online for sites that will help you conduct a personal audit or call a professional energy auditor if this service is offered in your country.



8. BUYS THINGS THAT LAST

One of the simplest ways to reduce waste is by buying items for your salon that are designed well and built to last. It may be more convenient to purchase disposable objects, but the consequence is an enormous amount of physical waste as well as the loss of energy needed to produce and break them down.



9. WASH AND RINSE LINENS IN COLD WATER

If everyone in the world switched to cold water with their washing machines, we could save millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year. And anyway, cold water cleans your laundry just as well as hot water. Keep this in mind whenever cleaning your linens in the salon, or with an external cleaning service.



10. INSPIRE YOUR CUSTOMERS

A large part of living sustainably deals with the relationships people and businesses build between each other, and how these relationships are cultivated and strengthened. Because you value your customers, share your salon’s eco-activities with them. You may become their source of inspiration for both beauty and sustainable business practices.



11. REMEMBER TO CLEAN YOUR SALON’S WINDOWS

Even if your salon has natural light, you will be tempted to use artificial lighting as much as possible. A simple way to maximize the natural light and minimize your electric bill, is to repeatedly clean your salon’s windows. Clear, natural light is also great for your color clients.



12. ONLY USE YOUR WASHING MACHINE WHEN IT IS FULL

Wait until your washing machine is full with towels and other linens before you run it. This is a simple way to conserve both energy and water. Just make sure you have enough clean linens to serve your clients while the dirty linens are piling up in the machine. As with most eco tips, not only will you help save the environment, but by reducing your personal consumption of the world’s resources, you’ll save money too.

13. SWITCH OFF BLUETOOTH AND WIFI

Bluetooth and WiFi (wireless networking) are 2.4GHz radio data communication standards, but are often referred to as features in mobiles phones and personal computers (PCs). Bluetooth and WiFi devices typically consume a lot of energy, and therefore use significantly more energy when enabled on a device. So to save energy, switch off the Bluetooth and WiFi features on your salon’s computers and staff’s mobile phones when they are not in use. That will boost your usable battery life, as well as save you money on your energy bills when charging your gadgets up again.



14. BUY RECYCLED TOILET AND KITCHEN PAPER

Given that you already recycle paper and cardboard, are you also buying recycled paper products such as toilet paper and kitchen paper (paper towels, napkins, paper cups)? Modern recycled paper products are very high quality and offer an array of styles due to improvements in processing over the years. Keep up the demand for recycled products by simply choosing products made from recycled materials.



15. INVEST IN A WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEM

Instead of offering clients bottled water – and adding to the already enormous amount of plastic being recycled daily – invest in a water purification system that connects directly the pipes under your salon’s kitchen sink and purifies tap water. There are numerous companies that offer these systems, from very basic designs to more elaborate models.