Sustainable Salon in London: How Samantha Cusick London is Prioritising Sustainability
The world is a bit of a sh*t show at the moment. Just turn on the news or glance at your Twitter feed, and you’ll be met with a barrage of worst-case-scenarios. Especially when it comes to the state of the environment. Global warming, ice caps melting, deforestation… More than ever, we’re all feeling the pressure to do our bit and live a more sustainable life.
We always believe in doing our bit at Samantha Cusick London. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to increase our sustainability efforts in everything we do, in every part of the salon.
That way, we help out the environment, you’re reassured you’re supporting an eco-conscious salon, and the planet gets a little bit happier.
Why do salons need to make an effort to be more sustainable?
If we’re ever going to help the environment, we need to be doing a lot more than swapping our straws from disposable plastic to reusable metal. Unfortunately, the hairdressing industry comes with a lot of single-use items.
It’s our collective social responsibility to help protect the planet. Some of the biggest issues in the industry that we’re looking to combat are:
The industry has a large carbon footprint because of the volume of imperishable waste products, such as cotton wool, shampoo bottles, foils, colour tubes, towels and tissues.
There are a wide range of chemicals being used in the hair industry. Hair dyes, bleaches, peroxides and hair styling agents are all hazardous to the environment.
Calculations by Eco Hair & Beauty suggest that washing just one customer’s hair per day uses about 14,222 litres of water and 1,252 kWh of energy annually. This works out at a carbon footprint of 500kg per client, and that’s before you’ve even taken into account the energy used by any blow-drying or styling tools.
According to a study backed by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, hairdressers can be a powerful force for environmental change and are in a position to influence mainstream practices. Unlike other businesses, hairdressing salons have a unique opportunity to become environmental champions by educating their customers about eco-friendly or ethical haircare products and practices.
The hairdressing industry especially has historically been a big polluter. Between hair dye, heating tools and styling products, there’s plenty of things that end up in landfill. It’s essential that salons stay conscious of the impact they’re having. That’s why we’re always looking for alternatives and initiatives to make Samantha Cusick London as sustainable as possible (while also delivering the same sensational hair you know and love.)
We’re pretty hot on our recycling. Just take a look at our stats from First Mile!
But we’re always looking to do more… Here are the latest new additions to our eco-journey that we’re SO excited to have in salons!
Here We Flo
We make no secret of it: we’re here for the girlies. And because we always want to ensure we’re an inclusive, welcoming place for everyone, you can find Here We Flo in all our bathrooms!
If you haven’t spotted Here We Flo’s super cute packaging in stores, we’ll give you the run-down on why they’re our favourite period product brand ever:
They NEVER test on animals - certified by The Vegetarian Society + PETA.
These period products are only ever made from natural & organic materials.
Every single pack purchased gives back. Here We Flo donates 5% of all profits to people + planet.
As well as working towards becoming BCorp certified, Here We Flo are a climate-positive workforce, reducing the carbon their team emits through operations with Ecologi.
And seriously… Have you seen their packaging? Too adorable. We’re obsessed.
You can check out all their amazing period products on their website AND in our bathrooms!
Fiils
Speaking of gorgeous, sustainable bathroom products… Have we introduced you to Fiils yet? This super aesthetic, luxurious hand care brand has one mantra: refill, not landfill. And we’re all about that life!
In their own words, Fiils is here to redefine beauty and make sustainability stylish, easy, and affordable. Their mission is to close the loop on waste, so you can fill up on our refills, not landfills. All while feeling cleansed from top to toe with eco-friendly beauty products that actually work.
Not only are their reusable aluminium bottles absolutely gorgeous (we’re gold girlies ourselves, but their bottles also come in sleek silver and peachy rose-gold,) but their hand wash/lotion is super luxurious and smells DIVINE. We love their 100% recyclable refill packages as well.
Digi Mags
We LOVE flipping through the latest Vogue as much as the next gal, but keeping up with every issue means a lot of wastage. The solution? Digi Mags!
All your favourite magazines and newspapers are easily readable straight on your smart device, meaning you get to keep up with the latest edition of your fave publication while you get pampered - AND there’s no paper wastage.
Don’t worry about annoying downloads or frustratingly resized pages either. Digi Mag’s content is optimised for mobile reading and delivered via your browser, so there is no need to download an App or register.
Scrummi Towels
The days of using super-heavy, cumbersome towels are behind us! The Scrummi Towel is a super sustainable, comfortable solution. These towels are single use - but don’t despair! That’s actually a good thing! Because they’re made from 100% compostable wood fibres, we don’t have to use loads of water and energy to wash and dry all our towels.
More than 15x more absorbent than traditional hairdressing towels.
Made from natural, 100% compostable wood fibres from certified sustainable sourced. (Scrummi disposable towels contain no hidden plastics and will biodegrade to compost within 8-12 weeks!)
Entirely vegan, never tested on animals.
These are just a few of the ways we’re working to make Samantha Cusick London more sustainable. We love doing all we can to help out the planet and finding new, exciting ways to do so!
If you’re looking to support an independent, sustainable salon in London, you’ve just found your new bestie. Gorgeous hair and saving the planet? It’s a no brainer babes x
