Every sustainability action counts

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Charne Le roux from GreenSpa.Africa provides top tips on how to bring sustainability within easy reach in your spa or salon

Consumers around the world, and in particular those who enjoy the health and beauty benefits offered by spas and salons, are increasingly asking important questions about the products and practices that apply to their favourite wellness partners.

• Are their products continuously re-usable, or biodegradable so that, eventually, they replenish the earth? • Are there any social or community benefits in the production of their products? • Are their products really good for us as consumers and the environment? • Do their businesses consume resources in a sustainable way? As wellness generators, spas and salons promote the health and wellbeing of their guests. A logical extension of this activity is to also promote the health and wellness of the planet and the community in which our businesses operate. This is, in fact, what more and more spas and salons in South Africa are aiming to achieve and here are a few practices that can bring GREEN within reach of us all.

• Use less energy for heating and cooling by insulating geysers, water pipes, ceilings and floors. • Cover pools and install insulating blinds when you refurbish. Also, opt for quick drying eco linen made from sustainably sourced fabrics. • Use less water by recycling grey water from basins and showers directly to your WC cisterns or gardens. Harvest rainwater from your roof. • Connect with, build and enhance your local communities. • Arrange wisdom days to celebrate our elders and share skills with fellow community members or tenants – from how to do facials, where to find beneficial plants and how to bake your own delicious bread. • Participate in a circular economy and source products that are durable, have replaceable components and can be recycled. • Go truly paperless! QR codes and mobile/contact free payment systems are a mere tap away. • Serve food and beverages from your spa or salon café that are nourishing (seasonal) and tasty, and are produced sustainably. • Reflect ‘local’ in your spa – from products, to therapies, to art. • Choose treatment products that feed the skin, are free from harmful chemicals and which are manufactured ethically. With the strain that the COVID pandemic has placed on our operational and environmental resources, the following tips are particularly relevant.

• Select re-usable PPE. It’s just as safe as disposables if proper sanitising practices are followed. • Purchase eco-friendly sanitisers free of micro-plastics. (These tiny plastic particles are often found in sanitation products and are what give these products their gel-like texture. Plastic has been found everywhere on earth – in the deepest parts of oceans, in the tissues of small organisms that form the basis of our food supply chain and now with micro-plastics, even in the air that we breathe.) • Use refillable and bio-degradable containers for hand sanitisers, cleaning chemicals and guest amenities. • Buy sanitising and cleaning chemicals in bulk and in returnable containers. And then, don’t forget to share your sustainability successes with guests and use their support to build a lasting GREEN culture.

Charne le Roux is a leading sustainability expert in the wellness industry and the founder of GreenSpa.Africa. She was a senior partner in the law firm Adams & Adams. Le Roux developed the first dedicated organic spa in South Africa, is the author of the Green Spa Guide, and developed a sustainability audit tool for spas and salons, the Green Spa Calculator. Email charne@greenspa.africa