Saskatoon salon working to stay green with eco-friendly service

A salon in Saskatoon is practicing a green method of hair styling — and it's not in the dye.

Parker and Floyd's Hair and Esthetics Studio is making environmental sustainability and waste reduction part of its mission.

"We've had our salon for about four years and it's bothered me how much we throw out," salon owner Rose Botting told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

"We'd recycle as much as we can here as far as paper and cardboard and stuff with the city, but it seemed like we were throwing out a lot of stuff." 

Almost 95 per cent of our salon waste is now diverted from the landfill.- Rose Botting, Parker and Floyd's Hair and Esthetics Studio

That's when she turned to Green Circle Salons, a company based in Toronto with a mission to make salons in North America sustainable by 2020.

"Now, we actually have several different boxes in our salon and we divide up all of our stuff," Botting said.

"There's a box for plastics, a box for metal, a box for paper and almost 95 per cent of our salon waste is now diverted from the landfill."

She said her salon is working with an Alberta branch of Green Circle Salons. The service comes by and picks up the boxes to bring them to a place to be separated and recycled.

"The hair is actually made into a hair boom, which is basically the hair stuffed into a nylon stocking and it's used to cleanup oil spills. So, an environmental problem is actually turned into an environmental solution."

Botting said her clients are charged a fee of $1.50 per bill that goes towards the eco-friendly service.

"I just really believe that we need to keep our environment clean," she said. "I have children [and] I have a grandchild on the way, so I'd like to see our earth stay safe and healthy for everyone."