Change hair to stay

After more than 30 years in the hairdressing business, Patrick Lennan knows it's time for change in the industry.

Mr Lennan, founder of Patrick's Hairdressing, has been gradually "greening" his multi-salon Hamilton operation, and teaching young student hairdressing school stylists the importance of sustainability and environmentally friendly methods.

The veteran stylist says the industry has had questionable methods and products which have impacted on the environment and in recent years he's been committed to minimising his operation's waste and energy consumption.

He's part of Environment Waikato's Carbon Save Programme, and has sold one company car, got rid of plastic bags and is gradually reducing his company's waste and energy usage.

"It's about trying to do whatever we can to make this a better planet, just in our small way," Mr Lennan said.

He feels he's thrown himself into the adoption of more environmentally friendly business and service methods, and is discovering "so many little ways" of making a difference.

"We've centralised our stock, so we don't have cardboard boxes going out to all our sites. We cart everything in bins, we try as much as we can to cut down on trips between sites – we walk between the city ones – and we're making sure the staff are aware of recycling and stock usage," he says.

Mr Lennan recently conducted an experiment where instead of waste hair product being tipped down the drain, it was collected in a large jar. Staff and students were stunned by how much would normally have been flushed away.

Mr Lennan said in the last five years hairdressing product companies had begun to concentrate on using eco-friendly ingredients in their ranges – a move away from chemical compounds with polysyllabic names – and he believed the next step would be packaging (bottles and tubes) made from biodegradable or recycled materials.

The industry "has actually gone, `look at the damage we have been doing, or the damage we've been part of, and what can we do to change it?'. We all have to do our bit," Mr Lennan said.

Producers whose ranges his salons stock had "become a hell of a lot more consumer friendly and environmentally friendly with their products". Some had removed products from their ranges altogether.

"It's the start of the process, like us doing away with plastic retail bags. Yes, we've lost one or two customers, but others are saying, `oh good on you, I've got a big handbag' (for carrying product). And that's been quite refreshing actually."

Customers aged about 35 years or older had been "really supportive", Mr Lennan said.

He said making environmental changes had also allowed cost-saving in the business, and he would be looking at finding more energy-efficient devices for the salons in future.

He challenged other salon owners to follow his lead and move towards more environmentally friendly methods and products.

Mr Lennan said making the green changes in his business had also led to more environmentally friendly methods at his home, and he had been able to shave a third off his power bill.

- © Fairfax NZ News