Eco-friendly barber shop starts with a few small changes

AIMING FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE, ECO-FRIENDLY BARBER SHOP STARTS WITH A FEW SMALL CHANGES. WHETHER IT’S THE HAIR PRODUCTS YOU STOCK, THE CHOICE OF CLIPPERS YOU USE OR RESEARCHING THE ECOLOGICAL CREDENTIALS OF YOUR SUPPLY CHAIN, THE CHANGE HAS TO START WITH YOU.

Rum were early adopters of disposable, compostable towels when we started using Scrummi towels back in 2016. Since then, Scrummi has become B Corp Certified, which means it has passed rigorous ethical standards for sustainability. That covers everything from the products they produce, to their supply chain, the shipping and packaging.

Using compostable towels means we can throw them out after use and know that within 100 days they will have biodegraded.

But speaking of making small eco changes, we recently started to use a cleaning product called Disicide, which is a range of concentrated products that disinfect, are fungicides and virucides, made in Sweden. We started using them because they are water-based and solventfree and gentle on our surfaces, chairs, tools etc.

The brand is environmentally friendly as well as health conscious with hospital grade disinfection standards, and as people become more concerned about the products and the chemicals they contain, these attributes become more important.

The tool companies are also taking action in the environmentally friendly arena. As an example, Wahl Professional UK are looking at reducing the plastic in all their packaging. Since 2017, in the UK alone, Wahl has reduced its plastic packaging by 37%. That’s not just the packaging that goes into the boxes, it is the packaging used in shipping as well. They are also trying to reduce the energy used and materials consumed throughout the whole supply process. Wahl UK is also trying to promote the recycling of batteries and electronic hardware rather than disposing of them.

Changing the mindset of the throwaway society that we are is not easy, but if you buy a new BaBylissPRO product in the UK, the company will recycle your old products rather than see them go to landfill. That system will only work if there is a change in attitude from consumers.

We are all good at understanding the need for a sustainable food chain and sustainable clothing and companies are investing a lot of money in this kind of research, but companies can, and only will, do so much. It will take effort on our part to put an old product in a box and post it back to the company to be recycled rather than just throwing it out.

When we visited the Gama Professional factory in Italy last year, we were impressed by a section of their factory that was dedicated solely to repairs. In Italy, if any of your Gama Professional products break down for whatever reason, they will repair it for you. I think they have a similar set-up in other countries too. I feel that some of the EU countries have a better attitude towards fixing and recycling things. They don’t crave the new, new, new all the time. Repairing isn’t as popular a concept in the UK or the US and so it would be very expensive for other brands to set this up if nobody is willing to use it.

The repair service impressed us greatly and it’s something that the other clipper and trimmer companies should be looking at if they can engage the consumer in the process.

Back in the day, barbers didn’t have as much choice or availability for clippers and trimmers, and barbers were readily able to fix certain issues with their tools. If you go on the Gama Professional website, they offer options for both returns and repairs. They try to make it as easy as possible for things to last, and I don’t think all clipper companies can boast that. Repairing is certainly more cost effective than buying a new set of clippers every year.

Getting everyone involved and changing the mindset across the industry is the beginning of solving the problem. The whole supply chain needs to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly but it won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen unless everyone gets onboard.