My advice on… Sustainability

It’s Earth Month and given there’s no planet B it’s up to us all to act. We spoke to Anil Salhan, owner of Birmingham salon BLACC + BLOND who are on a green mission, all in a bid to be the most sustainable salon in the world! But Anil wants to shape sustainability in the whole industry, not just his business, so he’s here to give his advice on why we must all do our part for the place we call home… 

What is sustainability, why is it so topical and what is the reality if we don’t act now?
Sustainability, to me, is a mindset. It’s about being responsible and maintaining things in a manageable way. I think sustainability in terms of the environment is so topical now because as a society we are waking up to the ills of previous generations. I’m sure they had their own agendas and reasons for operating how they did, however the reality now is that if we don’t create better solutions, then the future that lies ahead is one that will not be sustainable for the next generations. It’ll get to a point where the planet will not be able to function anywhere near the level as we know it. I say this as someone who is not an “expert” of course, however it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that things need to change drastically.  

We cannot maintain our Earth’s ecosystems without making sustainable choices now. If global temperatures continue to warm the consequences will be catastrophic with further impact on sea levels rising, coral bleaching, arctic ice melting, heat waves, flooding, habitat loss and so much more – we can still slow and reverse the impact at this stage but soon we’ll be past the point of return and that’s a scary prospect.  

 

Why is sustainability an important topic within the hairdressing industry specifically?
Sustainability is an important topic within the hair industry, because not only are we are one of the oldest industries, we are also one of the ever growing ones too, so we have a responsibility to lead by example. A big part of the way we operate, permits wastage. From hair, to natural resources, to materials. With the advancements of science, technology and innovators, we have an opportunity to function at a higher level of responsibility. Furthermore, we are one of the few industries that has such an intimate, personable relationship with our client base, meaning we are directly connected to the ground level of society. In a non-confrontational way, we have a level of influence over every day people. In my head, we could use that influence to help educate and inspire in even the smallest of ways. As a starting point, we need to acknowledge and empower the role we have as hairdressers/barbers. 

Address some common misconceptions about sustainability…
Most people will think that being more sustainable isn’t very time and cost efficient and to an extent, they are probably correct. However, the market towards sustainability has changed a lot in the last few years. There are so many more options and varieties of more sustainable methods that you can easily implement into your business. There are also a lot more people, like myself, that are providing their experiences/advice that will negate a lot of the initial thought processes.  

Can you share some of your experiences and outcomes in your journey to make BLACC + BLOND a sustainable hair salon?
My experience was probably a lot different from most other salon owners. I only opened my salon 4 months before the pandemic, which was obviously a really testing time for everyone. But I used the 4-month period of the second lockdown to create the GREEN IS THE NEW BLACC project and do tonnes of research into it. So, it was weird in the sense that it was both the worst and best time for me to begin a sustainable journey. I should’ve been worrying about a multitude of other things, mainly if I’d be able to reopen, however, I just kept telling myself, if I do open again, I want to do it in the right way. I never thought about being eco-friendly before I opened the salon, but after the societal issues that arose during covid, it was all I could think about. I didn’t want to just do one thing or be accused of green washing. If we were going to go sustainable, I wanted to set a new standard.  

Thankfully we were able to reopen and our mission to be more sustainable has gone from strength to strength. I’m really proud and grateful to of won two industry awards last year for being sustainable, but I do want to push things further now. 

Today, we are making strides and these are some of the things we’ve implemented in our salon:  

• We have a Climate Positive Workforce – I offset the carbon emissions of my staff 
• We donated 10% of new client service fees for a year to OneTreePlanted, to plant trees across the planet 

• Our salon uses 100% renewable energy 
• We use local companies and contractors wherever possible – a lot of our salon’s design elements came from local suppliers 
• Eco-friendly shower heads that reduce water wastage by 65% 
• Refillable cleaning products 
• Bamboo toilet paper, with every box ordered providing enough water for a year to one person in need 

• Changing our complimentary refreshments to wonky fruit that would have become wastage. Our still water comes from One Water, which provide glass bottles that are truly recyclable and who fund water and sanitation projects in Africa 
• Everything used in the salon is recyclable, where possible 
• Our price list is digital 
• The brands we stock all align with ethical, sustainable practices 

 

Our goal is to make sustainability a lot sexier, a bit cooler, a bit more creative and a lot more inclusive for everyone, to take away the intimidation and the confusion around it, and make it a basic standard.  

What are some realistic ways salon/barber shop owners can make a genuine impact within their own businesses?
There are many smaller ways to implement areas of sustainability through your salon experience. You can switch to bamboo toilet paper via Who Gives A Crap. You can change your refreshment offering to One Water or Dash Water. There are many more eco-friendly product ranges available to the market now. The Green Salon Collective are doing great with recycling hair. Scrummi offer biodegradable towels and EcoHeads do great shower/basin heads that reduce water wastage. Honestly, there are so many ways you can level up now. My advice would be to just dive in wherever you feel you can and naturally you will start seeing ways to improve.  

It’s like seeing a yellow car, once you see one, you will start to see more, even though they were always there! 

Four key tips for becoming more sustainable

Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe
As a business, it’s impossible to embark on a sustainability journey without your team and your clients on side – it is a collective effort. Take time to explain the reasoning behind what you’re doing, the impacts and get them excited about being involved. You’ll also find you attract likeminded people that are onboard with your cause. I make monthly donations to Ecologi to offset my staffs’ carbon emissions, which is an outlay on my behalf, but again it helps bind the BLACC + BLOND family vibe together.  

Get Assistance
Sustainability is a big topic and it’s fine that we’re not experts – why would we be as salon and barber shop owners? But there is plenty of help out there to navigate a greener path. I use an app called Ecologi, which provides businesses with multiple climate solutions from net-zero to large impact purchases. It helps us to breakdown the climate projects we are supporting including generating energy from hydropower and wind power to preserving the Amazonian rainforest – we use the app monthly to fund multiple global projects to directly impact atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and offset our emissions allowing us to achieve net zero emissions. 

Plant Trees, Impact the Planet
Implementing a plant a tree scheme can be a great step with genuine widespread impact. We donated 10% of all first-time client fees for a year and that equated to about 4 trees per client. Our goal was to plant 1,000 trees in a year and in our first 10 months, we’d helped to plant 3,000. Trees help clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink and provide habitat to over 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. Forests provide jobs to over 1.6 billion people, absorb harmful carbon and are key ingredients in 25% of medicines. They are fundamental in helping the world be a better place, offsetting carbon and reducing the effects of climate change. On a business benefit front, this was a resounding success because not only did word spread locally, it made clients feel part of the journey, which helps create that community feeling that people desire now.  

Spread the word
My last key piece of advice would just be to talk. To your friends, family, clients, the internet. Open conversations and dialogue around the topic of sustainability. We all want to do and be better, but we also have a tendency to doubt ourselves and get overwhelmed when making changes to our lives. So don’t hesitate or see it as a sign of weakness to ask other people for their help and advice. You’re definitely not alone so don’t be afraid to talk! 

 

 

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