April 05, 2022

How To Find A Sustainable Hair Salon

With the ability to recycle 95 per cent of waste, it’s no wonder they’re taking over Australia.

Have you ever thought about how (or if) your hairdresser recycles the snippets of your hair, the leftover foil from your colour treatment or even their empty shampoo bottles? Paul Frasca is helping to detangle the salon industry, guiding each and every salon to be able to responsibly dispose of 95 per cent of the waste they create. Frasca is the founder of Sustainable Salons, a social enterprise that helps beauty salons “reduce their impact on the planet and invest in local communities.”

He explains that when he started his quest to make the salon industry more sustainable, with partner and sustainable fashion expert Ewelina Soroko in 2015, it was the more environmentally-conscious salons putting their hands up to jump on board. Today, “60 per cent of the people that sign up are actually very liberal-minded business people” who see the business opportunity in becoming a sustainable salon. Right now Sustainable Salons services 4,000 hairdressers and over 1,500 locations, plus they’re expanding into pet grooming as well. 

So how does a salon become more sustainable? Sustainable Salons predominantly help businesses dispose of their waste responsibly. Here are some ways they do just that:

  • Ponytails longer than 20cm are collected and are made into wigs for cancer patients. 
  • Short snippings are stuffed into stockings and made into Hair Booms, which will help soak up oil spills on our coastlines. 
  • Shampoo bottles are recycled into combs and dog leashes
  • The chemicals from hair dyes and other practices are taken to local recycling facilities 
  • Foil is collected and sold with the profits going to OzHarvest or KiwiHarvest 

On top of waste disposal, Sustainable Salons provides purposeful work to 23 employees with a disability, has recycled 38,440L of chemicals and donates the funds that they make from recycling to 21 local Australian charities. 

Paul explains that “over 10,000 consumers a month use our directory”, making it one of the largest salon directories in Australia. Here, we share a short list of sustainable salons from around Australia and what it means to them to be a sustainable salon.

Sessions, NSW

Freshly B Corp certified and Sustainable Salons alumni, Sessions in North Sydney is leading the way when it comes to sustainable hair salons. Not only is it the first certified B Corp salon in Australasia, it’s also carbon negative, and plants a tree for every customer (and has done so since January 2020) but they also recycle 95 per cent of their salon waste through Sustainable Salons.

Find out more

EdwardsAndCo, QLD

EdwardsAndCo has been with Sustainable Salons for 5 years and with eight salons across Australia they are making waves. For EdwardsAndCo, their “clients are conscious consumers, so being able to tell them that we are a sustainable salon helps us to develop more meaningful relations with them.” The salon also explains that from a business sense, “Sustainable Salons offers a rewards system that we can use to purchase sustainable products and salon supplies, which is an amazing support for us.”

Find out more

Bond Hair Religion, ACT

Bond Hair Religion had a tough start to their sustainability journey. In 2014, their attempt at being environmentally-conscious by getting their body corporate to give them a recycling bin was unsuccessful (can you believe it?) Founder Jules Tarrant explains, “having my focus on sustainability as part of Bond’s foundational principles influences the way we do things and the everyday choices that are made.” Bond was the first Canberra salon to be accredited with the Australian Hairdressing Council’s Green Select status and in 2018 was awarded the Minister’s Award for Leadership in Business Sustainability.

Find out more

Zucci, VIC

Zucci opened its doors in 1984 and were conscious of the impact their single salon had on the environment from the start. Rocco Petrucci explains that to begin with “we would collect hair cuttings and distribute them throughout our own garden at home as well as have guests of the salon take bags of hair home for their gardens.” Zucci was the first Sustainable Salon in Victoria and now also offset their energy usage with the Snowy Mountains hydro electricity scheme and have partnered with Aveda since 2001 to use naturally derived products which are environmentally responsible.

Find out more

Etcher, SA

The brainchild of Lauren Cooper and Matthew Stadler, Etcher celebrates individuality and looks after the planet. “The word “Etch” means to cut, carve and create art with a sharp instrument – with the artist who etches being the ‘Etcher’. This is very much what we do as hairdressers… we create art (with our scissors)! Our goal is to help people feel like their most authentic selves; whatever that may be.” Not only are they a sustainable salon but they also have gender neutral pricing and are situated in Adelaide’s CBD. 

Find out more

Sfumato Hair, TAS

Sfumato was Hobart’s first sustainable salon. “Our belief of keeping our beautiful state of Tasmania clean and green is of high importance not only in our salon but also in our homes so this wasn’t hard for us. We are proud of the green movement!” Wayne Chappell, principal and founder explains. “The biggest change for my salon and the team was creating a new habit with how we throw rubbish away.  Setting up nine bins to separate what needed to go where before being sent away took a while to adapt to but is now engrained in how we function.”

Find out more

Circles Of Hair, WA

Circles of Hair has been a sustainable salon since it came to Perth in 2017. Chatting with Creative Director, Jessica Del Borrello she explains that “the biggest advantage of being a sustainable salon is that we are making a difference to our environment. We have so much waste in our salons every day and knowing it is getting used elsewhere BEFORE ending up in landfill is amazing.” Not only that but Del Borrello continues in saying that “our clients really appreciate us being a sustainable salon because they are also very aware of recycling and making a difference.” 

Find out more

April 05, 2022

How To Find A Sustainable Hair Salon

With the ability to recycle 95 per cent of waste, it’s no wonder they’re taking over Australia.

Have you ever thought about how (or if) your hairdresser recycles the snippets of your hair, the leftover foil from your colour treatment or even their empty shampoo bottles? Paul Frasca is helping to detangle the salon industry, guiding each and every salon to be able to responsibly dispose of 95 per cent of the waste they create. Frasca is the founder of Sustainable Salons, a social enterprise that helps beauty salons “reduce their impact on the planet and invest in local communities.”

He explains that when he started his quest to make the salon industry more sustainable, with partner and sustainable fashion expert Ewelina Soroko in 2015, it was the more environmentally-conscious salons putting their hands up to jump on board. Today, “60 per cent of the people that sign up are actually very liberal-minded business people” who see the business opportunity in becoming a sustainable salon. Right now Sustainable Salons services 4,000 hairdressers and over 1,500 locations, plus they’re expanding into pet grooming as well. 

So how does a salon become more sustainable? Sustainable Salons predominantly help businesses dispose of their waste responsibly. Here are some ways they do just that:

  • Ponytails longer than 20cm are collected and are made into wigs for cancer patients. 
  • Short snippings are stuffed into stockings and made into Hair Booms, which will help soak up oil spills on our coastlines. 
  • Shampoo bottles are recycled into combs and dog leashes
  • The chemicals from hair dyes and other practices are taken to local recycling facilities 
  • Foil is collected and sold with the profits going to OzHarvest or KiwiHarvest 

On top of waste disposal, Sustainable Salons provides purposeful work to 23 employees with a disability, has recycled 38,440L of chemicals and donates the funds that they make from recycling to 21 local Australian charities. 

Paul explains that “over 10,000 consumers a month use our directory”, making it one of the largest salon directories in Australia. Here, we share a short list of sustainable salons from around Australia and what it means to them to be a sustainable salon.

Sessions, NSW

Freshly B Corp certified and Sustainable Salons alumni, Sessions in North Sydney is leading the way when it comes to sustainable hair salons. Not only is it the first certified B Corp salon in Australasia, it’s also carbon negative, and plants a tree for every customer (and has done so since January 2020) but they also recycle 95 per cent of their salon waste through Sustainable Salons.

Find out more

EdwardsAndCo, QLD

EdwardsAndCo has been with Sustainable Salons for 5 years and with eight salons across Australia they are making waves. For EdwardsAndCo, their “clients are conscious consumers, so being able to tell them that we are a sustainable salon helps us to develop more meaningful relations with them.” The salon also explains that from a business sense, “Sustainable Salons offers a rewards system that we can use to purchase sustainable products and salon supplies, which is an amazing support for us.”

Find out more

Bond Hair Religion, ACT

Bond Hair Religion had a tough start to their sustainability journey. In 2014, their attempt at being environmentally-conscious by getting their body corporate to give them a recycling bin was unsuccessful (can you believe it?) Founder Jules Tarrant explains, “having my focus on sustainability as part of Bond’s foundational principles influences the way we do things and the everyday choices that are made.” Bond was the first Canberra salon to be accredited with the Australian Hairdressing Council’s Green Select status and in 2018 was awarded the Minister’s Award for Leadership in Business Sustainability.

Find out more

Zucci, VIC

Zucci opened its doors in 1984 and were conscious of the impact their single salon had on the environment from the start. Rocco Petrucci explains that to begin with “we would collect hair cuttings and distribute them throughout our own garden at home as well as have guests of the salon take bags of hair home for their gardens.” Zucci was the first Sustainable Salon in Victoria and now also offset their energy usage with the Snowy Mountains hydro electricity scheme and have partnered with Aveda since 2001 to use naturally derived products which are environmentally responsible.

Find out more

Etcher, SA

The brainchild of Lauren Cooper and Matthew Stadler, Etcher celebrates individuality and looks after the planet. “The word “Etch” means to cut, carve and create art with a sharp instrument – with the artist who etches being the ‘Etcher’. This is very much what we do as hairdressers… we create art (with our scissors)! Our goal is to help people feel like their most authentic selves; whatever that may be.” Not only are they a sustainable salon but they also have gender neutral pricing and are situated in Adelaide’s CBD. 

Find out more

Sfumato Hair, TAS

Sfumato was Hobart’s first sustainable salon. “Our belief of keeping our beautiful state of Tasmania clean and green is of high importance not only in our salon but also in our homes so this wasn’t hard for us. We are proud of the green movement!” Wayne Chappell, principal and founder explains. “The biggest change for my salon and the team was creating a new habit with how we throw rubbish away.  Setting up nine bins to separate what needed to go where before being sent away took a while to adapt to but is now engrained in how we function.”

Find out more

Circles Of Hair, WA

Circles of Hair has been a sustainable salon since it came to Perth in 2017. Chatting with Creative Director, Jessica Del Borrello she explains that “the biggest advantage of being a sustainable salon is that we are making a difference to our environment. We have so much waste in our salons every day and knowing it is getting used elsewhere BEFORE ending up in landfill is amazing.” Not only that but Del Borrello continues in saying that “our clients really appreciate us being a sustainable salon because they are also very aware of recycling and making a difference.” 

Find out more

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