KEY TAKEAWAYS: In this post, we’ll share 5 ways that cosmetologists and beauty pros of all kinds can celebrate Earth Month in eco-friendly style by adding small, daily habits to their routines. We’ll discuss tips like opting into energy-saving habits, swapping out salon products, and focusing on digital shifts that can eliminate major earth issues in your shop, salon, or spa.
Celebrate Earth Month in Your Salon with These 5 Earth-Friendly Habits
April means spring showers, an almost-summer vibe in the air, and of course, one of our very favorite celebrations of all–Earth Month.
Whether you’ve always been a Mother-Nature lovin’ kinda cosmetologist or you’re just now diving into the world of environmentally friendly practices, we’re here to welcome you wholeheartedly.
Earth-friendly practices and businesses are a big point of contention in the beauty industry, but ultimately, taking a more eco-friendly approach to your beauty biz doesn’t have to be. If you’re a beauty pro who’s eager to not just celebrate Earth Month but make changes that can benefit the environment every day of the year, you’re in the right place.
Here’s the disclaimer you’ve been waiting for–going green and taking an earth-friendly stance in the beauty industry doesn’t have to be a huge, expensive move. You don’t need a giant marketing campaign to make the switch or an enormous budget to opt out of your current practices.
You can take a stand, make small changes, and put the earth first all year long just by adding or removing teeny tiny habits every single day.
How does this blog come in?
In honor of Earth Month (which, if you ask us, should be celebrated every month), we’re sharing 5 earth-friendly, celebratory shifts you can make this April!
5 Ways to Celebrate Earth Month in Your Salon: Must-Try Earth-Friendly Habits
Okay, before we dive into these have-to-try habits, we want to touch on one important question.
If you’re wondering," Why should I care about this enough to change my salon habits?” We’ve got some enticing answers.
First and foremost, we all need to do our part to make sure we’re looking after the environment. Unfortunately, as much as we adore the beauty industry, our techniques, strategies, and practices aren’t always super earth-friendly. By making small, daily changes we can create a snowball effect of greater impact and help heal the earth.
But beyond the fact that you’re doing the earth (you know, the planet you live on) a major solid, these changes can also…
- Improve your client retention (they care about this stuff!)
- Reduce your monthly expenses
- Create a spacer, healthier space for clients and employees
- Minimize your carbon footprint
Sell, Use, & Refill Recyclable Products
The endless single-use plastic problem might feel like a never-ending hamster wheel to get out of, but there are plenty of ways you can minimize (and even eliminate!) single-use stuff in your salon. The easiest place to start? Your products!
Start with your back bar! Stock up on refillable glass bottles or containers to hold your products–then use those over and over so you’re not dealing with throw-away packaging. This doesn’t have to be a huge salon expense, either. You can usually thrift or upcycle glass containers–just make sure you give them a proper cleaning first.
If you’re able to transition over to refillable products you sell to your customers, set up a sweet little refill station where they can bring back their bottles and you’ll top off their products. (No need for any more single-use containers!)
Bonus tip–if you’re not in a place to completely do away with single-use products, try offering your clients a go-to recycling setup in your salon. Want to incentivize them to use it? Offer them a tiny discount or an extra stamp on their loyalty card when they bring back and recycle their old product containers from you!
Nix Paper & Aluminum
If you can, go digital! There’s no real reason to keep paper forms and documents around in a modern salon these days–especially since digital CRMs and POS systems can help evolve your business and marketing efforts all in one place.
Try to rid your salon or shop of all unnecessary paperwork and see how streamlined you can make your workflow with an all-digital approach.
As a bonus tip, try to avoid those aluminum foils–try something more sustainable for size!
Evolve Your Energy-Saving Practices
We can all do a little more to monitor our energy consumption, and a professional salon or shop is no exception. Here are a few quick and easy ways to keep your energy costs and usage lower (without having to make enormous or costly changes!)
- Unplug all your energy-using products at the end of the day
- Hang dry your towels when possible
- Monitor your water usage
- Install water-saving faucets and shower heads to conserve water
- Use motion sensors for your lights to ensure they’re off when no one’s in the room
- Swap out old bulbs for energy-efficient LEDs
- Check your sinks, pipes, and faucets regularly for wasteful leaks
- Re-use rinse water
- Opt for eco-friendly bamboo brushes, hair dryers, and other tools
Say No To Animal-Tested Products
Animal testing is a common problem in the beauty product world, but it’s one that’s gradually getting more attention. Nowadays, you can find thousands of options for non-animal-tested products (whereas just 10 years ago, that was a major hurdle for cosmetologists).
Animal cruelty may not feel immediately like a sustainability issue (sometimes it feels more like a personal or ethical conversation), but this kind of testing can and often does have negative impacts on the environment. The animals captured, bred, and used for animal testing could have a sustainability impact on the areas where they’re from. And disrupting this natural balance in the name of animal testing is more than just non-sustainable, it’s dangerous for those ecosystems.
If you’re looking to make an earth (and animal) friendly change to your shop, consider checking the labels of all your products and looking into the companies that make products. Are they cruelty-free? If not, can you sub those products for similar ones that are?
Focus on Eco-Friendly Salon Design
The urge to add cute and on-brand decor to your salon or shop is always there. But instead of running out and buying new fast-fashion-esque decor (or ordering online), try your luck thrifting and upcycling beforehand.
Choosing to thrift decor that already exists is better for th environment than contributing to the demand for a rotating door of new products that will eventually end up in a landfill! Opt for recycled or sustainably made decor first–then supplement if and when needed.
The ultimate eco-friendly decor for your shop? Flowers, plants, and little gardens. Adding greenery to your space makes it light, bright, and beautiful–but it can also help filter and clean up the air, eliminating toxins that you and your salon guests could be breathing in.
We hope this fresh and fun advice helped you zero in on how you’ll celebrate Earth Month–maybe it even inspired you to make some small (but permanent) changes in your own salon. Either way, we’re wishin’ you a happy Earth Month!
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Meet Hanna Marcus, the Founder and Head Copy Gal behind Boundless Copy, a one-of-a-kind copywriting agency that specializes in big, bold brand voice and industry-disrupting copy that’s all about resonating with the right audience.
Hanna has proudly teamed up with Elite Beauty Society for several years as their go-to copywriter on all things beauty, small biz marketing, and brand voice development. She’s big on feeling-first writing–her personal soapbox is that the best copy starts with telling a story.
When she’s not writing cheeky, converting copy for clients, she’s mentoring other aspiring copywriters and creating digital copywriting resources designed for service pros and focused on taking the stress out of DIY copywriting.
