It feels good to get your hair done, but you might not know that salons produce a whole lot of waste – hair dye and peroxide are rinsed into the water supply, and every day mounds of hair, foil from colouring, and product containers are thrown away.
A company called Green Circle is helping to solve the problem through a special recycling program.
“It's our hope that together as an industry with salons and consumers that we raise awareness and put an end to this because it no longer needs to happen,” said Scott Moon, regional education manager for Green Circle.
They pick up hair, foil and leftover chemicals from hair treatments. The company works with licensed environmental waste partners. They recycle or upcycle, even converting hair dye into clean energy.
Hair they collect is stuffed into these nylon booms, used to efficiently clean up oil spills.
Revolution Hair Studio in Beaconsfield is one of the participating salons. Owner Tamara Rifai said the process is seamless and easy.
“They're so organized, they're so helpful. They come in and give you all these boxes and little containers and our waste is much more organized now,” she said.
In the end, the customer covers the extra cost.
“They're happy to spend the extra dollar or two for their eco fee to make sure their waste is being properly recycled. They feel like they're part of something also,” Rifai said.
In Quebec, there are around 100 salons taking part in the program. Green Circle operates in every Canadian province and recently expanded into the U.S.
