Happy Earth Day!
It’s true that “doing hair” and “protecting the planet” are rarely used in the same sentence. But it’s also true that we love both. We are passionate about haircare AND we take caring for the Earth seriously.
That’s part of the reason we became North America’s first Certified B Corp™ salon in 2015. It’s why we partnered with Green Circle Salons in 2018 to recycle, recover, and repurpose up to 95% of the beauty waste created through our daily operations, becoming a Certified Sustainable salon brand (and through this same partnership and their Carbon Neutral Program, we were a Certified Carbon-Neutral salon in 2022). And it’s also why we want to improve the supplies and systems within the salon to be more earth-friendly as often as we can.
Take our drink service, for instance. Every beverage served in our salon comes in a 100% compostable cup (our wine cups are made out of PLA corn plastic and sourced from a fellow B Corp™!), our coffee is from a local roaster, and our tea, from a local B Corp™, uses teabags that are not only compostable but completely free of micro- and nanoplastics, meaning it’s better for you, too! (A 2019 study found that many conventional tea bags can release somewhere around 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of tea. Yikes!)
This year, we’ve also expanded our recycling program with Green Circle Salons to include items made of hard-to-recycle plastic, like bottle caps, lids, and product containers, after our team realized they cannot be recycled with the rest of our curbside recycling in Portland.
We truly believe that doing business better—especially when that business is doing hair—means trying to do better for the environment as well. So come on in and have a drink. Rest assured that each time you step into a Ginger & Madue hair salon, you’re supporting a more sustainable, eco-friendly alternative to a traditional salon and one that strives to do more for both people and the planet. 🌎