The Ingredients List - Breaking down the what, where and why of natural and eco-friendly beauty.
When we consider sustainable beauty, often what first comes to mind is the products in our bathroom. Perhaps using less plastic, investing in waterless products or choosing ethically sourced ingredients – however, trips to the hair salons are, more often than not, left out of the conversation.
'The services side of the beauty industry plays a significant role, accounting for more than 40% of the industry’s contribution to the economy and employing the largest proportion of people. However, with salons largely micro-businesses, they often get overlooked as being able to make a difference when it comes to the climate crisis,' Victoria Brownlie, Chief Policy Officer, British Beauty Council, points out. But, thanks to a new scheme, change is afoot.
The Net Zero Salons Programme, a partnership with climate action platform Net Zero Now and hair giants L’Oréal, enables salons to calculate, track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through tailored carbon reduction plans, with the ultimate ambition of certifying as a 'Net Zero Salon'.
Reducing the amount of greenhouse gases and investing in projects that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are the biggest steps businesses can take to curb their carbon footprint. 'Since the industrial revolution, human activity has caused the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to increase by 50%, effectively covering the earth in a thicker blanket, trapping more heat and causing temperatures to rise,' Simon Heppner, co-founder of Net Zero Now, explains. You only have to look at the alarming headlines highlighting more hurricanes, more droughts and more flooding to know that without action this will only get worse. 'Getting to Net Zero is the approach that the world’s scientists and the UN agree gives us the best chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change,' he adds.
While hair salons are far from being the biggest contributors to climate change on the high street, every sector has a part to play if we want to see a big difference. When it comes to impact, Net Zero have identified the key patterns amongst salons. Use of water is a big one, especially heating large amounts of water, often with gas boilers. Specialist product production, food and drink served and staff commuting are also other areas for improvement. When salons sign up to the scheme, Net Zero guides them through every step of the process from calculating their footprint, adopting reduction targets and receiving a tailored reduction plan to achieve their goals.
This move comes as more consumers than ever are looking at ways to reduce their environmental impact. A recent L’Oréal survey found that 43% of British women wanted to see their salon doing more to be sustainable and nearly half of British women (45%) said they made more sustainable choices in 2022 than previous years. 'There are over 31,000 salons across the UK which make up an important part of local communities. The programme is built on the ethos that small changes to help reduce our emissions can result in a big impact for the whole industry,' Natalia Agathou, Sustainability Director, L’Oréal UK & Ireland, explains.
'I think as a society we’re now alive to the fact that without collective effort, the ambitious targets around net zero are impossible. We have to stop looking in silos and accept the supply chain – the Net Zero Salons initiative is a key link in this chain,' Brownlie reiterates.
Currently 17 salons across the UK have signed up to the initial pilot scheme including Adam Reed’s Spitalfields salon. 'Sustainability is something that is incredibly important to me as an individual and as a business leader – and it is something that both my team and clients actively ask about and want to see us taking action on,' Reed told ELLE UK. 'The tool has helped me to understand where I am at on my journey by calculating and tracking, and then, most importantly, has helped me to accelerate with a personalised reduction plan to make my business more resilient for the future.'
With more salons signing up as we speak, this initiative could see a huge impact: 'If all salons in the UK achieved the programme’s “best practice” benchmark of 2kg of carbon emissions per salon appointment, the industry could remove around a third of its carbon emissions,' Agathou highlights.
