15 Sustainable Salon Tips: How to Have an Eco-Friendly Hair Salon

Diana Muresan

Feb 11 -- 8 minutes

In this extremely fast-paced world, when we can barely catch our breath from time to time, it has become essential to make just a little effort to help our environment breathe too.

Because sustainability has become a responsibility for every individual and business alike, salons started to align with this important matter.

There is no secret that many industries pollute a lot and harm the environment. In 2022, sustainability and eco-friendly products are among the most important things to consider if you have a business.

Happily, there are many ways to make your hair salon more eco-friendly! With a sustainable salon, you’ll promote green living, prevent pollution, and save some money for your business too. It is a misconception that a sustainable lifestyle is more expensive.

This blog post will discuss some easy tips for making your hair salon sustainable. Therefore, read on, and learn how you can make the beauty industry a little more eco-friendly!

Why is sustainability important in hairdressing?

Hairstylists interact with many people daily, and they are the perfect ones to be an example for others and start working in a more sustainable environment.

Running an eco-friendly hair salon business is healthy for you, your clients, the planet, and your bills! Yes, you read it right. Even though moving to eco-products and habits may seem expensive, it is not, and you will get less costly bills and more sustainable hair products.

Here are the main reasons why sustainability is important in the hairdressing industry:

It helps you reduce carbon footprint
It reduces your monthly expenses
It is healthier for your clients (vegan hair products)
You contribute to saving the planet

How can you make your hair salon sustainable?

Below, you will find 15 ways to make your salon sustainable in 2022. You’ll discover practical tips that you can apply immediately to your business. Put these sustainable hair salon ideas into practice and say hello to your eco-friendly hair salon!

1. Use energy-efficient light bulbs

It is important to use energy-efficient light bulbs to be more sustainable and eco-friendly. LED lights are the most energy-efficient option, and even if they may seem costly at first, they last 25x longer than a regular light bulb, so you’re saving money. Moreover, LEDs use at least 75% less energy, which means only good things for the environment. So if you want to apply sustainable hair salon ideas, here’s a great one.

2. Don’t forget the lights on

The most common mistake we make in our daily lives is forgetting the lights on, even though we don’t need them. Especially in a hair salon with your hands wet or you’re in a hurry, you can often forget the lights on.

An eco-friendly hair salon tip is to use natural light more than artificial. Also, turn off the lights when you leave a room for a while. Using natural lighting and turning off the unnecessary lights is the only free sustainable salon tip that you can apply.

You can even print a funny image with a message and place it near the light button, encouraging people to turn it off.

3. Go paper-free

Another great solution to having an eco-friendly hair salon is to go paper-free. What do I mean? I’m referring to getting rid of the paper agenda and moving to a digital one.

For example, Goldie is a hair salon scheduling app that can help you book appointments, send reminders to clients, access your financial reports, and take deposits from clients. Plus, you can save client information like allergies, favorite hair colors, treatments, etc. What’s more, Goldie lets you collect payments from clients via payment link or contactless with just your phone, so you don’t have to deal with cash anymore.

You only have to download the app from the App Store or Google Play, set up your account information, and start scheduling appointments. Plus, if you want to increase efficiency in your salon job, you can personalize your online booking page and let clients book themselves. Scheduling has never been easier, and now it is even sustainable!

4. Pay attention to water usage

One bad habit in the hair industry is overrunning hot water. It is not only bad for the planet but both expensive. To make your hair salon more sustainable, you can replace your electric water heater with a gas, boiler, or sun panels heater. Also, turn off the faucet when you’re not using the water. Being an eco-friendly hair salon is not so hard… you just need to want it. 🙂

5. Find a sustainable transportation

If you’re not that lucky to work close to your workplace and you want to protect the planet, you should use a sustainable transportation method. Be it public transport, bicycle, rollers or simply walking, you will contribute to reducing pollution. Also, by doing so, you’ll become a model for people around you, and they’ll follow your lead to an eco-friendly lifestyle.

6. Storage plants in your salon

Remember that green plant you received and didn’t know what to do with it? I hope you still have it because it’s a great decor idea for your salon!

Did you know that indoor green plants play a significant role in creating a sustainable hair salon? Plants are natural air purifiers, and they can help reduce indoor air pollution. In addition, they can improve employee productivity and create a more relaxing atmosphere.

7. Recycle everything

Salon professionals are in a unique position to make a difference. You can recycle materials that would otherwise go to waste. It’s also a great idea to educate your clients on the importance of recycling and taking care of our planet. Here’s how to recycle salon waste.

You can recycle almost anything nowadays. Your old equipment, such as dryers, curling irons, or computers, can be recycled if you take them to the right place.

8. Avoid using aluminum foils

Aluminum foils, hair coloring tubes, and other materials used in hair salons often end up in landfills and damage the environment.

Salon professionals often use aluminum foils to style hair, but they are not a very sustainable solution. According to hairstyle specialists, plastic wraps are an excellent alternative to aluminum foils because they allow you to see the colored hair. Also, paper wraps are another eco-friendly hair salon idea. Here’s how to use them.

9. Educate your clients

You will immediately become an example for your clients by leading an eco-friendly hair salon business. Those entering your salon and seeing your pro-green environment will be curious to discover why you do it and how.

With this in mind, you can consider a positive example for those coming into your salon, not only beauty-related but also from a sustainable point of view.

10. Don’t use animal-tested products

According to PETA, each year, more than 100 million animals die in the U.S. because of biology lessons or cosmetic testing. These actions are cruel and disrupt the equilibrium of nature. With this in mind, we can affirm that animal-tested products are not a sustainable solution at all.

To support everything that the earth has (including animals and plants), you can consider using cruelty-free products in your hair salon. This action has a huge impact, and it is also essential if we want to end animal-tested cosmetics, drugs, and beauty products. With a simple choice, you can become an eco-friendly hair salon, and you’ll keep alive some furry friends.

11. Give a try to the organic hair dye

According to the New York Department of Health, ammonia is a corrosive solution and the main ingredient in most hair dyes. It is not only toxic when applied directly to the skin or hair but also in the air. Scientists show that exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air causes immediate burning of the eyes, nose, and respiratory tract.

Many beauty brands have focused on creating only organic products in the last years. Buying this kind of product will be ideal for everyone’s health in your salon and help you turn your toxic environment into an eco-friendly one.

Below, you can find some brands that provide organic hair dye (ammonia-free).

12. Use reusable packaging products

High-quality packaging for products, like glass-made packaging, will store the product safely and reduce waste and shipping costs. How? Because usually, products that come with reusable packaging have refills at a lower cost. Therefore, you can reuse your hair salon products by refilling them. This is a sustainable hair salon idea that you can consider applying. In addition, this kind of packaging is usually much more esthetic than the plastic one.

13. Support an ecological cause

To complete your eco-friendly hair salon experience, you can consider supporting a cause, like planting trees, growing new forests, stopping wood exploitation, or supporting cruelty-free product brands. For example, on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day globally, and it’s a great occasion to spread the word about the importance of sustainability in hair salons. You can organize a hair salon event and invite all your staff members or industry colleagues to join you in supporting the cause you chose.

14. Install motion sensors

Since we’re talking about lighting, here’s another idea: have motion sensors installed in the bathroom and other rooms that don’t have much traffic. In this way, you can be sure you didn’t forget to turn off the lights when you walked out of those areas.

For the parking lot and space outside your building, you can install lights with a timer and adjust them accordingly.

And just like that, you’re helping the environment and saving some money on electricity by having an eco-friendly salon.

15. Turn off your devices

At the end of the day, unplug the devices, such as blow dryers, computers, or coffee machines.

Even if you’re not working with them, they still use a small amount of power when they’re plugged in.

So, by doing this, you’ll reduce the electric usage and (again) save some money on the electric bill.

Last but not least

Don’t forget to promote on social media your eco-friendly hair salon ideas. Remember, word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to increase awareness. Eco-friendly can be a unique selling proposition for your hair salon and a great branding tactic to include in your salon strategy. Here you can discover more hair salon marketing ideas to apply.