PHILADELPHIA — A salon in Center City Philadelphia is making strides in sustainability by recycling items typically discarded after a haircut.
Kelly Lyons, a regular customer at Pileggi On The Square Salon, says she always leaves feeling “like a million bucks.”
“I’m very picky about my stylist,” Lyons said. “I don’t let just anybody touch my hair. This is the only place I trust.”
The salon’s owner, Kevin Gatto, emphasizes the importance of making clients feel good.
“We’re not just in the business of doing hair,” Gatto said. “We’re in the business of making people feel good.”
Recently, Gatto has taken this mission a step further by partnering with Green Circle Salons, an Ontario-based company that started in 2009. This company works with 16,000 certified salons to recycle waste into items like plastics and clean energy. They even provide an online dashboard to track recycled waste.
“Since partnering with Green Circle Salons, we’ve been able to recycle up to 95% of our salon waste,” Gatto said.
Gatto has set up recycling bins for various materials typically thrown away in salons, including metals.
“We take the tin foil from clients’ heads straight from the bowl and put it right in the bin,” he said.
Another bin is designated for leftover hair.
“After haircuts, we sweep up the hair and Green Circle uses it to make buoys for oil spill cleanups,” Gatto explained.
Leftover hair color is also recycled.
“Green Circle extracts the chemicals from the water, making it potable, and then converts the chemicals into renewable energy,” Gatto said.
Each month, the waste is collected, bagged, and sent to Green Circle Salons. To support this initiative, a $3 eco fee is added to each client’s bill.
Customers like Alex Snelling are supportive of the extra charge.
“It feels good to support a small business that’s making a difference,” Snelling said.
Lyons shares this sentiment.
“Conservation and reducing my carbon footprint are really important to me,” she said. “When Kevin mentioned this initiative, I thought it was amazing.”
For Gatto, this initiative is a dream come true.
“I sleep better knowing we’re reducing our waste and not contributing to landfills,” he said.
With each haircut, Gatto aims to create beautiful styles while also preserving the beauty of the Earth.
In August, the salon will receive its first report detailing the amount of color, hair, and metals they recycled during their first full month of the initiative.
