Simple Ways to Make Your Salon More Eco-Friendly

As the world is turning more green, industries are finding ways to be more eco-friendly. Goodbye single-use plastics and wasteful habits. It’s time to say hello to practices that are better for the environment.

Why Should You Make Your Salon More Eco-friendly?

By having your salon become more eco-friendly, you will promote green living to help conserve energy and prevent pollution. You will be helping the planet by reducing the amount of trash and wasted electricity that your salon outputting.

Going eco-friendly will also improve your brand’s image. It will show clients that your business cares and is working to promote a greener environment. You will also notice money-saving benefits by going green.

Here are simple ways that you can do to make your salon more eco-friendly.

Promote Recycling in Your Salon

The first and easiest tip to make your salon more eco-friendly is to promote recycling in your salon. Make sure that you have recycling bins available for staff and clients to use. A trick is to have a recycling bin that is larger than your trash can. It encourages people to recycle whatever they can instead of throwing it in the trash can.

When it comes to recycling, we encourage you to put up signs to promote responsible recycling habits. For example, make sure that the recyclable plastics and glasses are clean before throwing out. Leftover product can lead to recycling contamination.

Many beauty businesses, especially hair salons, rely heavily on the use of aluminum foil which can be recycled only if it’s clean. This is difficult to do in fast-paced salons so the only place for it to go is the trash can.

However, there are eco-friendly alternatives such as Paper Not Foil. It is a revolutionary and sustainable foil for coloring hair. Each strip can be tossed in the washing machine and reused over and over again.

Encourage Energy-Saving Practices

We’ve all heard it as a kid: don’t leave the water running when you’re brushing your teeth. This should be practiced even throughout our adulthood to save energy and resources. Encourage your staff to turn off the lights and water faucet if it’s not being used.

According to studies, it shows that if you’re brushing your teeth for two minutes, you could be wasting 3 gallons of water. Just imagine how much water you could be wasting when the tap is running during every small activity at your salon.

Turning the lights off when you’re not using it can help save you a lot of money. While you probably can’t turn off the lights in the main salon area, try using energy-saving light bulbs to help cut down the cost, such as halogen incandescent or LED lightbulbs. For the washroom, you can have a light sensor that will allow the light to turn on only when it’s in use. This will help make sure that staff or clients don’t forget to turn the lights off.

Wash Towels When Load is Full

It’s important to have clean towels at all times at your salon. To make your salon more eco-friendly, only wash them when the load is full. Have a better system of managing your inventory to make sure that you have enough clean towels at all times. Instead of using the washing machine several times throughout the day, just use it during central times when the load is full. It’ll end up being less work for you.

Avoid Single-Use Plastics

If you haven’t yet heard, many businesses are cutting out single-use plastics. Cafes are banning straws and grocery stores are moving towards getting rid of plastic bags. More regions are working towards banning single-use plastics to avoid plastic waste and harm to wildlife.

To make your salon more eco-friendly, you can start avoiding single-use plastics. Instead of having plastic water bottles, use a water filter and provide reusable cups for clients to use. Rather than have plastic plates and cutlery, have ones that can be washed and reused. These are simple ways to avoid single-use plastic and help save money in the long run.

This can also be done for salon products and supplies. Try to use refillable containers and supplies that can be reused. While single-use plastic supplies are great for sanitary reasons, it harms our planet. Instead, make sure that your staff is properly sanitizing and cleaning all the supplies before using on the clients.

Switch to Sustainable Products

Your eco-friendly salon should be using natural and sustainable products instead of toxic chemicals that can be harmful to the environment, clients, and staff. This includes the products you’re using on clients and the ones to clean the salon.

Try using products that are:

• In recycled packaging
• Ethically sourced
• Biodegradable
• Zero waste certified
• Renewable energy and plant materials
• Not tested on animals

A few great brands that have natural and sustainable cleaning products are:

• Caldrea
• Better Life
• Ecos
• Puracy
• Seventh Generation

Go Paperless

Finally and definitely not last, go paperless. Instead of shuffling papers and printing receipts, go digital. You can go completely paperless by going digital for scheduling appointments, handling deposits, sending receipts, providing intake forms, and more.

Going paperless will also allow your salon to be more organized. You will have all your client’s information all in one central area, instead of trying to manage books and paper from months ago. Your salon will be more eco-friendly, organized, and productive.

How are you making your salon more eco-friendly?