After just 12 months of using Vish to manage their colour, The Hair Base Salon, in Goreston-on-Sea, Norfolk, surged ahead of the competition to snatch second place in the 2022 Vish Waste Warrior Awards. It means The Hair Base got it right from the start. They reweigh 91% of the time, and colour waste is down to 13% per service.
“It is amazing that we won a Vish Waste Warrior Award,” says Emma Jarvis, who opened her salon 23 years ago. “It’s really great for the team and they deserve it because they do not compromise when it comes to the planet.”
Sustainability Makeover
While The Hair Base might be relatively new to Vish, it is not new to the sustainability agenda. Emma has been committed for many years and in 2019 invested in a huge refit of her salon, including a whole new LED daylight array and heating system to take the salon to almost carbon-neutral. They were also careful about colour waste.
Before Vish, colour was dispensed on a scale rather than by eye and the team collected any waste in a waste bucket. Emma then weighed it to show the team, which is probably why they found it so easy to switch to Vish. Now the team simply weighs and reweighs on the Vish scale to get formulas spot-on while additional colour costs are automatically communicated to the front desk to add to the client’s bill.
“We don’t even think about it any more,” says Emma. “Everything we do is first considered from a sustainability angle. Most of our own-brand products are sulphate and paraben-free, and about 80% of our clients who buy them return to our refillery for top-ups rather than buy more plastic.”
Going Green with Sustainable Brands
Emma has rejected fossil fuels as much as she can. The salon has an air source heat pump that provides warmth in winter and cooler air in summer, all of which is powered by a local electricity supplier that prioritises energy from renewables. She has sought out energy-saving tools, such as Varis hairdryers, to keep energy low and has Scrummi towels to limit energy-guzzling, high-cost laundering. The salon is partnered with Kao, which is actively working towards zero environmental impact, and with Salon Sustainability to remove all hair, foils and PPE waste.
“I actually take the entire salon’s recycling to the recycling centre myself and we have hardly any colour waste,” adds Emma. “We are almost 100% paperless, even our monthly magazine has gone digital.”
The salon refit wasn’t based solely on environmental concerns. Emma also shifted the focus to build a greater sense of community within the space, placing all the workstations at the heart of the salon so clients and stylists look towards one another. Her aim was to encourage chatter between everyone, to create a place where clients will drop in any time, not just when they are getting their hair done. All of this contributes to a community committed to one another and the environment.
