A few hours at the hairdresser or at the spa could cost the environment enormously, since Canadian and American salons produce approximately 877 pounds (362 kg) of waste per minute.
It is therefore the equivalent of the weight of a grizzly in waste that pollutes the environment every minute, or 421,000 pounds (190,962 kg) per day for an 8-hour day, according to a report by Green Circle Salons, including the mission is to make the beauty industry greener.
The survey investigated the overall impact of waste generated by beauty salons on the environment and the behaviors of salon professionals towards this critical issue.
«[…] in [les clients], nor, often, the workers of the salon, think of the enormous impact they have on the environment at this moment. It’s not their fault. There hasn’t been a lot of awareness about the impact of these activities, and in the past we’ve run out of solutions,” explained Shane Price, CEO of Green Circle Salons.
The main sources of waste are hair dyes, haircuts and metal; all this waste produces greenhouse gases by decomposing, in particular.
According to the report, 70% of professionals are unaware of the significant impact of hair waste and hair dyes on greenhouse gas emissions.
However, most salons (64%) said sustainability was an “extremely important” issue.
To produce this report, Green Circle Salons surveyed nearly 400 industries, including 263 salon owners or managers, and 130 stylists and barbers in Canada and the United States.
