With many products used for different services at salons, it takes more than your basic recycling bin to ensure chemicals and other kinds of waste don’t end up in landfills.
And with a growing focus on sustainable practices in many industries, there is a growing push to see some of that salon waste repurposed.
At The Sapphire Hair Lounge in Winnipeg, eco-friendly practices have been top of mind for the past six months.
While manager Courtney Guerin tells CTV News they’ve always done what she calls “baseline recycling” at the salon, the stylists recently decided to bring in environmental consultants Green Circle Salons.
Through Green Circle, stylists at The Sapphire Hair Lounge estimated they’re diverting salon waste by roughly 95 per cent.
“Actually at first it was quite jarring, thinking about how much we do waste,” said Guerin.
Green Circle Salons provided them with separate bins for different types of waste.
That waste is picked up by courier and whisked off to a warehouse in Montreal where it is sorted and repurposed.
Now, almost everything at the salon is recycled, from the hair on the floor to foils covered in chemical.
“Even simple things like hair colour being washed down a drain is not good for our waterways,” said Guerin.
The process of recycling hair colour and other waste at the Sapphire Hair Lounge translates into an eco-fee.
“A short hair cut would be a one-dollar eco-fee,” said Guerin.
“And then longer haircuts and colour services are a two-dollar eco-fee.”
The most clients will pay is two-dollars, and Guerin said so far customers seem happy to pay it once their stylist explains the policy.
Hairstylist Jordy Rempel is familiar with the increasingly “green attitude” of customers.
Rempel works as a stylist at Colors Beauty and Wellness in Winnipeg.
Rempel explained that for them, the decision was made in 2005 to work towards recycling as much as possible.
“Empty bottles. Our backyard stock comes in plastic — that’s being recycled. Our tubes of colour,” said Rempel.
According to Rempel, the commitment to “going green” also includes the installation of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system for air quality.
The salon also sells products with ingredients the stylists believe are less harmful to the earth.
“Our guests come to see us because we are environmentally friendly,” said Rempel.
Rempel told CTV news the salon is looking at developing other practices to repurpose waste and believes salons can always improve.
