Our commitment to
Recycling
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a reflection of our values and dedication to promoting a more sustainable and responsible approach to personal care.
FOR BEAUTY. FOR THE PLANET.
Salons across North America throw away approximately almost 500,000 pounds of waste each day. Ethos Day Spa wanted to be part of the solution so we partnered up with Green Circle Salons. As a Certified Green Circle Salon, 98% of the items used during a service at Ethos Day Spa are recycled.
We are now a sustainable spa and salon and are partnering with Green Circle Salons to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfills. We are excited to do more for our planet and do our part within the beauty industry to protect the environment by reducing waste.
By becoming a sustainable Green Circle Salon, we can separate out our spa and salon waste such as foils, hair clippings, hair color, lotion, scrubs, single-use and PPE, and send these particular items to recycling facilities that repurpose them.
To make this type of recycling possible, our services will now include an Eco Fee of $2 per visit, depending on the service. This money will go directly towards ensuring the items you utilize while in service at Ethos are sent to recycling facilities instead of landfills. We thank you for joining us in making positive changes to truly impact our environment and the world. Learn more about our efforts in Respecting our environment.
The old method was to sweep up the hair and throw it away. Now, all cut hair is sent to Green Circle Salons. It is then placed in hair booms which can be used during oil spills. A synthetic boom can only be used once where a hair boom can be used up to 5 times.
Previously when a stylist completed a color service they would simply rinse out the color bowl sending the unused color down the sink. This increases the chance of it ending up in our lakes. Now, all unused color is sent back to Green Circle Salons. Any clean water that can be extracted is returned to lakes, streams, and rivers. The remaining color is burnt and used as pigment in things like paint, asphalt, etc.
Foils, color tubes, and other aluminum are thoroughly cleaned and repurposed for new products like car parts and bicycles. Single-use items are processed through a waste-to-energy program, which creates clean renewable energy. By implementing these practices, salons are able to promote a more sustainable approach to beauty and reduce their carbon footprint.
FAQ'S ABOUT GREEN CIRCLE
How does the Green Circle program work? We will now be specifically separating and collecting beauty waste generated from our salon & spa. This includes leftover hair color, hair clippings, hair foils, and more. After the beauty waste leaves Ethos Day Soa, Green Circle takes care of the rest. Their “Green Guarantee” means the beauty waste collected will be recycled or repurposed, rather than end up in a landfill or waterway.
Did you know hair when placed in garbage bags will mummify, continue to fill our landfill, and give off methane gas? GCS Member Salons will now be diverting all hair out of landfills and into other more sustainable projects. GCS, in connection with various partners, is looking at ways that hair can play an important role in a number of commercial applications. It’s exciting to know that hair can be used on our oceans to help in oil spill cleanup and recovery projects.
Did you know that all excess chemicals including colour, perm solutions and ammonia get rinsed down the sink into our water stream? This is the ugly truth of the industry. Our solution will be to send all excess liquid chemical waste to a hazardous waste facility where it will be responsibly managed, so that it no longer pollutes our waterways or land.
Did you know that currently all aluminum foils and colour tubes are not being recycled and are sent to landfill? Recycling aluminum uses roughly 5% of the energy required to create virgin aluminum from bauxite. Ninety- five percent of all aluminum can be recycled over and over again, including the foils and color tubes that are used in salons across the United States. From now, GCS Member Salons will take an environmentally responsible stand and ensure that all metals are properly recycled. This will help to reduce the need for more landfill space, reduce our dependence on non-renewable resources, and decrease the number of toxins going into our landfill sites.
What is an Eco Fee and we do we have it? As a company, we at Ethos Day Spa must continue to seek out ways to become more eco-friendly, environmentally friendly and sustainable. As a beauty industry leader, it is important to us to lead the way in finding innovative ways to protect the environment in every way we can. To make this possible, we must partner with our clients. The Eco Fee charge of $2 per visit, will cover ongoing Green Circle program costs directly related to beauty waste recycling and other salon-wide environmental sustainability efforts.
Why doesn’t Ethos Day Spa cover the cost of Eco fee? Unlike some industries, we aren’t currently able to recycle the beauty items and PPE we use through our waste management partners. Much of this kind of recycling is still emerging, and until it becomes more mainstream in order to recycle salon-specific waste items, we need to utilize Green Circle’s programs to access recycling facilities and repurposing options. It is critically important for the salon industry to do our part in making the planet a cleaner place, and that comes at a high cost. It is not financially possible for us to be eco-friendly without using a service like Green Circle as this capability is emerging. We appreciate your partnership as we move toward doing better.