You’ve likely seen us brand ourselves as Eco-Conscious and I wouldn’t blame you if you wrinkled your nose and asked why not just say Eco-Friendly and stop making up phrases. But here’s the thing…I’d feel like a fraud if I did.
I’m a huge believer that we can all play a part in helping heal the planet a little but I’m also totally honest about the fact that I work in an industry wrapped up in chemicals and plastic bottles. By no means does that mean I’m surrendering though! The products we use and the companies we work with have been carefully considered and I’m determined to get us as green as possible at Black Sheep H.C this year. And I’m not just talking about my obvious obsession with plants within the salon!
On a personal level I’ve started EcoBricking at home. (Wrinkled nose and confused expression can go here too.) You’d have to be hiding under a rock to not have seen the plastic crisis we’re living in. Bear with me here, I’m not going into an eco rant but it is something I’m becoming more and more passionate about! EcoBricks is a global community I found on Facebook of likeminded people all packing non-recyclable/single-use plastics into bottles. Think of the plastic that surrounds birthday cards or dvd’s or even your frozen pizza packaging. These then go on to be used in different personal or community projects and the bottles of condensed plastics can be used for anything from building school playground projects to simple footstools for home use.
I’ll stop with my plastic rant for now but if you’re curious then google it or maybe even search the group on Facebook! Anyway, the reason I’m telling you this is the ultimate goal would be to find a local charity or community organisation that could put these to good use and open up the salon as a drop-off point (our nearest one is Soham!) but we’re still working out the logistics on this so I’m hoping that it’s one for the future.
But back to the salon. As an Insight salon our washing and styling products are all considerate of their environmental impact. The products are ozinated which means an extra atom of oxygen and therefore less preservatives, the bottles are recycled and recycleable and ingredients are 97% naturally derived. Even our Great Lengths hair extensions are ethically sourced! (Take a read of our past Extension blog where we go more in-depth about this.) And did you know that Olaplex is vegan and none of the ingredients nor the final products are animal tested?
There are some areas we’re definitely focusing on improving though. You may have noticed I tend to opt for easi-meche when highlighting-these are plastic sheets and the only reason I lean towards these as opposed to foils is the standard of my work. Honestly, it’s what I’ve always used and breaking a habit it hard!! As much as I want to do the right thing I also don’t want it to be to the detriment of my work-I’m not a total angel just yet but I promise I’m working on it and you’ll see foils featuring more in my colour work.
We’ve recently discovered another local eco-loving business that you may have seen pop up on our social media’s. Very Craftea is a beautiful little business owned by the lovely Tas and we’ve started serving her tea’s in the salon. There’s no agenda here other than I’m obsessed with her tea’s, I love her general green vibe and I think everyone should check her out! To go with this we’re in the process of sourcing fresh glass bottled milk as I’ve noticed at home this is a big plastic problem for me and so if it’s a problem at home, it’s a problem in the salon. A small plastic reduction but a little difference nonetheless! Our refuse collection is from a company that works to ensure 97% of its waste collected does not go to land fill and we’ve changed our bin liners throughout the salon so that small pedal bins contain biodegradable bags and our larger bins are from fully recycled plastic. Where possible our cleaning products are moving over to the more eco-friendly alternatives aswell so we’re definitely getting there with our eco-conscious mission!
I’m forever looking at better ways to improve our green footprint and I love the reception I’ve been getting when talking to you all about it in the salon. It’s definitely something I’d aimed to do alongside the salon from the start and now we’re heading towards our first birthday and the business side of things is in full play, it’s something I want to focus more on this year. I think that as a society we’re becoming aware of our impact and as far as I’m concerned that’s great so if anyone sees room for improvement anywhere, ideas are always welcome!!
Thanks as always for reading
Chloe x
