The shift into spring gives us time to pause, reflect, and enjoy the nature that surrounds us. Although we just wrapped up Earth Month, SalonBiz is dedicated to going green year-round. Like many salons, we are rooted in a mission for greater environmental responsibility and sustainability. We’ve put together a few of our favorite tips and tricks for creating greater environmental awareness beyond April.

Create Awareness

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd back in 1970. Since then, the movement has grown to extend far beyond that single day to include events throughout April (and the year). Thanks to social media, mobilization around environmental stewardship continues to grow, uniting people around the cause. More than 190 countries participate in Earth Day events, resulting in more than billion individuals mobilizing to make an impact every year.

Fortunately, the energy from Earth Day and Earth Month can propel activism throughout the year. As salon owners, we have a responsibility to lead the way with the choices we make. By setting an example for our staff, guests, and other community businesses, we can all make an impact in April and beyond.

Go green

There’s no denying that we’re in an industry with endless opportunities for going green. Fortunately, many beauty brands are already revolutionizing the industry with a focus on sustainability. The good news? Following in their footsteps is easier than you think. There are so many ways to be more conscious in your own salon every day.

Consider taking these steps:

• Sell retail products that prioritize sustainability in their ingredients, manufacturing practices, and packaging
• Label bins to correctly separate waste, recyclables, and compostable materials
• Install a smart thermostat to reduce energy usage during off-hours
• Use light sensors in bathrooms, stock rooms, offices, and other areas with low traffic
• Upgrade your light bulbs, small appliances, and other electronics to energy efficient options

For those looking to take it a step further, consider becoming a certified green salon. One easy way to accomplish this is by partnering with Green Circle, as we cover in a previous post.

With their salon waste management program, you’ll collect hair clippings, used foils, color tubes, and even excess hair color. Then, simply ship it to Green Circle for processing. It will be processed in a sustainable way that leads to the creation of new products or clean energy. No more landfill waste for your salon!

Start the conversation

Need a good reason to break dress code? Shaking up the daily routine gives your team energy and an easy conversation starter with guests. Some salons have special t-shirts made that create awareness about conservation and going green.

Others put up signage about their conservation efforts or post about it on social media. Think of ways to open up conversation starters with guests in the seat about your sustainability efforts!

Host an event

Events are a great way to make an impact, meet other people in your community, and help your team bond!

For example, when Berenice’s Salon in Denver was putting together ideas for Earth Month fundraising, they knew they wanted to involve the neighborhood. They reached out to popular local ice cream and coffee shops to cross-promote and supply food and beverages.

Berenice’s had a DJ playing vinyl records while they offered complimentary mini-services and makeup touch-ups. They engaged even more local businesses for raffle items, with all proceeds going to a non-profit dedicated to clean land, air, and water initiatives. The result? $1,000 in donations under three hours!

Remember, it doesn’t have to be Earth Month to host an event like this one. Whenever you host an event, make it a success by:

• Partnering with other businesses that care about similar causes
• Creating social media events to spread the word and make it easy for guests to sign up
• Keeping close track of donations
• Offering to match donations to a certain amount (or find a local company or generous donor to match)

With SalonBiz, you can also create a discount code to hand out to visitors that incentivizes them to come back and visit after the event is over. Run reports on discount codes to see the success of your event, both immediately and a few months later.

Gather donations

No need to focus only on fundraising during events. From raffle baskets of sustainable products at your front desk to simple $1 donation prompts, raising money for conservation initiatives is a great way to get your team and community rallied around a cause. What better way to make an impact than by working together?

SalonBiz makes it easy to collect money and track donations using a drawer entry. A drawer entry can track money that is removed or placed in the cash drawer when a sale is not made. That means you won’t have to worry about skewing your ticket totals!

Let SalonBiz lead the way

One of the easiest ways to be sustainable in your salon is to go digital. Thankfully, it’s never been easier. Ditch the paper trail when you partner with SalonBiz!

From mobile booking to integrated payments with emailed receipts, everything you need to accomplish can be done using our intuitive software. Encourage your team to check their schedules, client history, and formulas right from their phones. Plus, you can monitor stats and goals in real time without printing any unnecessary reports. You’ll reduce your paper use and save money in the process!

Have questions? We’d love to chat with you about all the ways we can help your salon run more sustainably. Contact us today!