BLOG spot - Look Sharp, Do Good!

By Paul Frasca

Today’s clients want to look good, feel good and do good. Sustainable Salons’ Sharps Program is the easiest way to up your clinic’s sustainability credentials.

Like most of our members, clinics generate large amounts of materials post-treatment. Brochures, aftercare sheets, glass vials, metals, and plastic end up in curb-side recycling or landfills.

While most dermal clinics can’t change the amount of resources they produce - after all, they adhere to the highest standards of client safety, and with good reason - they can ensure they have a say in what happens to their discarded materials and how their non-recyclables are disposed of.

An innovative solution

Sharps have long presented a challenge. Unsafely disposed of sharps can lead to needlestick injuries in processors, collectors, and cleaners, which can be an intensely frightening experience and have serious health consequences. Sharps that end up in landfills can also leak their biohazard contents, and while many people love some subtly placed filler, the earth certainly doesn’t!

Since Sustainable Salons’ inception, we’ve worked tirelessly to provide a convenient salonspecific resource recovery program for the hair and beauty industries. In more recent years, we’ve turned our attention to the prickly issue of sharps disposal. I’m pleased to say Sustainable Salons now runs the safest, most convenient, and most cost-effective sharps disposal service for dermal clinics.

Our sharps collection program eliminates the need for in-person returns. No more dashing to the local collection point between clients!

Simple YES/NO labelling means staff don’t have to remember what can and can’t go in the sharps container, and your sharps container is easily returned to us along with your other salon resources.

A growing market

The injectables market is projected to grow by over 27% by 2030. Given the rapid growth this industry is experiencing, we’re thrilled to see dermal clinics leading the charge towards a sustainable future.

Hearing from our members

I’ve been reaching out to our dermal clinic members to get their perspective on our program, the changes they’ve seen since joining Sustainable Salons, and how their clients have responded to the program.

Amy Wright of Eltham Cosmetic Clinic in Melbourne says her journey to becoming a Sustainable Salon started when she opened her clinic in 2017. She was immediately confronted by the amount of resources she generated in a single day.

We spoke about her decision to become a Sustainable Salon:

Q: Why did you become a Sustainable Salon, and how long have you been on the program?

A: We were one of the first cosmetic practices to join the program, all the way back in 2017 I’d opened the clinic that year, and even working solo with lots of bookings each day, I was struck by how much perfectly clean waste, like paper, cardboard, and plastic, was generated even just from one day of trade.

It really bothered me. After reaching out, I joined the program, submitting our paper, plastic, and metals, as well as glass and, in more recent years, our sharps containers!

Q: Why is it essential to incorporate sustainability into dermal clinics?

A: We just generate such a lot of waste, even in a single treatment. It’s our responsibility to see that the output of our businesses is minimised in any way we can.

Q: How does the Sustainable Salons Sharps Program set you apart from other dermal clinics?

A: Our client community is aware of sustainability measures taken by the businesses they choose to patronise, and I believe now more than ever, potential clientele are choosing the businesses they support based on alignment of values, too.

Q: What benefits has your clinic seen since implementing the Sustainable Salons Sharps container into your business?

A: They are such a cost-effective way to manage our sharps disposal and collection, which really makes a difference to our profits, as resource recovery can be quite costly and takes place frequently in a clinic like ours!

Being part of the Sustainable Salons program has saved us big time in this department! The bins are also nice and narrow yet quite roomy, so they don’t take up much room on the benchtop but also take ages to fill.

Q: How have your clients responded to the Sustainable Salons program?

A: Clients are quite delighted when we explain the program itself, and everyone likes to feel that they can effortlessly contribute to something that gives back.

Amy’s experience is far from unique - we are helping dermal clinics reach their sustainability goals every day. Like many of our members, joining Sustainable Salons was a no-brainer for Amy.

After all, she says, “All it takes is about 5-10 minutes per day to ensure all of our resources are sorted, bagged, and popped into the purple bins. It’s a real talking point for clients visiting us for the first time, too! If we can provide excellent services to our clients while maintaining our values of sustainability and impact, why wouldn’t we?”

Joining the Sustainable Salons program isn’t just good marketing - it’s plain good business. Save money, attract clients, and create a greener future for our planet with one simple, cost-effective move.

Scan the QR code below to learn more about our sharps disposal program.