How salons can become more sustainable

TAs a society, we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of environmentally responsible spaces or buildings. Moreover, it is also important to be sensitive to our environmental impact. It not only helps us save money, but also welcome new clients.

Sustainability can be looked at through the lens of economic, social, environmental or the interconnectedness of those levels of analysis. Sustainability can also be looked at on a micro-level and a macro-level. Similar to their economic counterparts, micro focuses on sustainability at the brand or company level (it’s doable). Macro sustainability focuses on sustainability at the national, regional or international level.

As designers, we strive for timelessness and good quality at the time of building it, anything which can be used longer is sustainable. So, when we design a salon project, we start to integrate economic and environmental aspects into our plans and we can achieve sustainability at many levels. But what about existing salons, is there a way in which we can bring the sustainability model into play?

Let’s explore and get into the details.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

How do we bring energy efficiency to our salons? Even if we don’t have access to clean energy in our premises, yet we can look at conservation and reduction of usage of energy. Air conditioning consumes maximum energy in salon premises so ensure they are working efficiently:

• Clean your AC filters, service them and check with your AC service team to check how efficient the air conditioning is
• Replacing the old AC with a newer, energy efficient model helps a lot. As we mostly don’t calculate ROI on replacing older units. Just a check on that can bring energy saving into your checklist
• Add motion sensors to the restrooms

Check if lights and equipment are energy efficient

• Check glass facade or windows if any in the sun trajectory, use blinds or sun films to reduce the impact of ambient heat on the building
• If you have space, do install solar panels, it can help bring down the energy consumption in your salon
• With a net meter we need not worry about a cloudy day, what we generate goes back to the grid and we just have to pay the differential amount
• Look into the water heating system in your salons, like just replacing conventional geysers with a Jaquar integra heating system which can bring efficiency 4x
• We just need to audit our energy consumption, life of our equipment and then make wise energy efficient decisions.

WATER EFFICIENCY

Consumption of water and discharge of waste water is very high in a salon. We need to bring efficiency in both. We can recycle waste water from back wash and pedicures to use for

GREEN TOUCHES

Reconnect with nature, create spaces that reduce stress and improve cognitive function and creativity.

• Indoor plants significantly reduce VOCs and carbon dioxide from indoors
• Promote sustainable products like hemp towels or micro fibre towels which absorb more water, so drying time reduces Say no to plastic bottled water, install a water dispenser and use recycled disposable cups instead
• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products that are less harmful to the environment and your staff
• Use salon products from brands that have sustainable practices as a business model itself

RECYCLE MANTRA

There are so many ways you can become a “green” salon with recycling:

• Buy recycling trash cans and place them next to the regular trashcans
• Switch out your paper business cards, stationery and retail bags to 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper
• Ask guests if they need a bag for retail purchases instead of automatically supplying one
• Never throw away old computers, electronics, or rechargeable products such as clippers – there are many ways these appliances can be recycled.
• Even hair can be recycled to make wigs and several other uses We can conserve, recycle and use environmentally friendly products to take the first step towards a healthier and more sustainable environment.

Ashateet Saran
Principal Designer
SA Studio