We know that the reasons for choosing organic are as varied as the hair colours we offer in the salon. But we find that most of our clients really care about the environment and their impact on it. Especially when it comes to plastic packaging.
Just like many of our customers, at pHd Malvern, we are taking stock of our environmental footprint.
When we originally decorated the salon, over 6 years ago, we chose our products carefully. We used non-toxic paint and recycled wood and applied the same process with our recent refit.
Planetary Crisis
However, what we’re all worried about right now is plastic. We can’t go a single day without a headline about the damage plastic is doing to our environment. While the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 has brought the plight of plastic choked oceans into our living rooms at prime time and we just cannot ignore it any longer.
Lets be honest, the mainstream hair and beauty industry doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to plastic packaging. Zero Waste Week, an annual campaign, estimated that the global cosmetic industry creates more than 120 billion units of packaging each year, that uses up 18 million acres of forest every year to package hair and beauty products. That’s just the cosmetic industry… it’s not surprising that the UN has declared a planetary crisis.
pHd – Keeping plastic use low
At pHd we have always cared about our salon’s impact on the environment, so we wanted to share with you what we have been doing to try and combat plastics in particular.
We take great care to consider not just the product we buy, but where and how it’s sourced and the packaging it comes in. We’ve worked hard to find suppliers who share our concern for the environment without compromising on results for our clients in the salon.
This is another reason we were delighted to find Kevin.Murphy. Yet again, they really hit the spot.
All the paper used in Kevin.Murphy packaging comes from post-consumer waste. Everything they use is recyclable and biodegradable. Even their bottle design isn’t simply about looks. In fact Kevin.Murphy designed boxy bottles because they uses 40% less plastic resin whilst holding just as much product.
All those flat edges means the product can be packed more tightly, making it easier to ship around the world – further reducing their carbon footprint. And, what does end up in landfill, takes up less space.
John Masters Organics also has packaging at the heart of it’s environmentally friendly ethos. They use recyclable packaging and have taken care to reduce their ink usage. They also print on 100% recycled and unbleached paper.
“You can rest easy knowing that what you put into the earth is as clean as Mother Nature intended it to be. Always natural, always earth-friendly, and always with your beauty and health in mind.” John Masters Philosophy
Small steps make a big difference
There’s always more we can do, but sourcing from ethically and environmentally suppliers is a big step to keeping our salon green.
Day to day, where we cannot reduce we recycle. All our paper and card are recycled and everything else, such as plastic packaging, is separated at the salon and taken to the local tip. The result is that the business only puts out one bag a week for landfill.
pHd is really pleased to see that the cosmetic industry is experiencing an international push to up it’s game. Consumers want less packaging and more thought. We are 100% behind this and will continue to do as much as we can to provide a super, natural hairdressing experience that literally doesn’t cost the earth.
