Sustainable studio

Yvette Greenway’s salon Feel Good Therapy has won IIAA Green Salon of the Year for two years in a row. She tells Eve Oxberry how she minimises her environmental impact and her tips for making salons more sustainable

How did you start your business and was it sustainable from the get-go?

“I’ve been in the industry since I was 16, so just over 30 years now. I set up on my own from my house when I was 24 and was there for 10 years. Then, sadly, my dad died and I inherited a portion of land, so my husband and I had an opportunity to build a house. We’d just had our first child so decided to build a workspace too so I could work around the children. My husband is a lighting designer but has a background in structural design so he designed the house himself with the studio behind. Obviously, you are encouraged to make all new builds environmentally friendly now and It’s something I’ve always been passionate about. I’ll have been in my studio for eight years this September.”

Which structural aspects are eco friendly?

“We have a highly insulated building with tripleglazed windows giving a B energy rating, meaning less draughts, and the building retains heat in winter and stays cooler in summer. We also have a sedum blanket living roof, which encourages biodiversity, and a cedar clad exterior. Both reduce noise on the inside.

“An air source heat pump provides heating and hot water. There’s no gas supply in the village [East Marton in North Yorkshire] so most properties here are on oil or LPG heating. We also have wet underfloor heating with a thick concrete screed and tiles, while solar thermal panels boost the hot water cylinder so less input is needed from the heat pump.

“In addition, we have solar PV panels (2.5kw) which provide electricity during daylight hours. We’re looking at expanding this system and adding batteries for energy storage. We also have water collection butts for rainwater recycling which we use for garden irrigation.”

What about operational eco initiatives?

“I recycle absolutely everything. Most product packaging I recycle through my supplier, IIAA. I even recycle any bags and plastic wrap through my local supermarkets. I don’t put anything in the bin other than tissues and cotton wool. I use Ecover or plant-based spray to clean as much as possible and minimise how much cotton wool we use. We use mitts for most things.

“I try to reduce delivery impact so I order in bulk as much as possible then reuse the packaging to send products out to clients. I use the smaller boxes to send things in, then the larger boxes I shred and use as bulking.

“We’re completely digital now as well; we use Fresha software so we don’t ever make paper record cards or print receipts. We used to send out birthday cards but that’s all digital now too.

“If a client has a coffee, we use the ground beans on the lavender outside the studios. We have quite a lot of plants, which are always covered in bees.

“We don’t use any plastic carrier bags, only paper, and we have actually made cloth bags to give to clients too.”

How did you choose which brands to work with?

“I found there was a really big shift in what clients want – from spa skincare to more medical so I moved to Environ and came to IIAA through that route but didn’t realise they had such a focus on the environment initially. So, I didn’t choose IIAA just for environmental reasons but when I found out about the passion that the MD, David Alpert has, it just all ticked all the boxes. Through IIAA, we are actually paid to send the Environ packaging back to them to recycle, £1 per container, then they sell it on to a company that recycles it into things that are not single-use items, so things like plastic decking and composite.

“I also work with Neal’s Yard which comes in glass bottles and you buy reusable pumps separately.”

How do you involve clients in your environmental initiatives?

“I encourage them to bring their own towels to cut down on laundry. I discount their treatment by £2.50 per towel and get them to bring two big beach towels so they lie on one with the other on top. Then I have a warm throw, which doesn’t necessarily need washing between every client.

“We made cloth bags to give to all our regular clients, which we encourage them to put the towels in and to bring back to us. Some leave the towels in the bag in the car and just wash them every now and again – so they’re not having to wash them every time like we would if using them on different clients in the salon.

“We also encourage them to bring back their empty Environ containers so that we can recycle them via the IIAA recycling scheme. We give clients 5% discount off the retail price as a thank you for recycling with us. IIAA pays us £1 per container for sending them back and we donate this recycling money to a local charity.

“Not all local councils recycle all beauty packaging, particularly things like plastic pumps, so although you can put things in recycling, unless you use a specialist service, some of it may well end up in landfill.”

What’s your advice to salon owners who want to be sustainable but can’t start from scratch in a new building like you did?

“I only have a very small setup and I know it’s not always as easy to be environmentally friendly when you are a larger salon. If you can invest any money or get a grant from the local council to get some solar panels put in, that’s a great start. Then, just all those small steps like reusing absolutely everything, even your coffee beans, using mitts as much as possible and minimising on the impact of everything.

“Go to your suppliers and tell them to stop sending you packaging that’s not recyclable and to stop sample sizes and gift-with-purchase items like beach bags that the client will just throw away. One of the things I like about Environ is that they don’t sell travel-sized products. I encourage my clients to buy reusable travel-sized bottles and decant their cleanser and toner.

“It’s about trying to educate clients to do small things. I’d love more salons to get clients to bring their own towel.”