It's Earth Day 2022 and we wanted to give you an update on our environmental efforts in the last 12 months.
What is Earth Day:
Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, is a reminder to protect the environment, restore damaged ecosystems and live a more sustainable life. First celebrated in 1970, this year marks its 52nd anniversary.
Our Efforts:
- Shopify Carbon Offset Program
- Rollout of Vish Colour Management Tools
- Removing Single Use Gift Card Vouchers from our Salons
Shopify Carbon Offset Program
Since our last update in March 2021, we have continued enrolling in the Shopify Carbon Offset Program for just under 18 months. What does that mean? Every time we ship out an online order, we contribute toward the carbon costs associated with that delivery.
We have now offset some 56.8 kgs of CO2 on deliveries which have travelled some 90,851 km around Ireland and the world. To put that in context, that is the equivalent of charging some 7,238 smartphones.
What has our involvement in the Shopify Carbon Offset Program achieved?
Our contribution has ensured the protection of some 464.9km2, which is the equivalent of 71 tree seedlings.
Coupled with the fact that the delivery boxes used for our online delivery come from sustainable forestry sources and use reduced ink, we believe this is our small contribution to a bigger problem.
The rollout of Vish Colour Management Tools
If you have been in the salons recently, you may have seen us hovering over new weighing scales and painstakingly measuring out your colour formula down to the milligram.
This is the Vish Colour Management system. While it has obvious benefits from a costs management viewpoint, it has significant benefits for all of us in our localities in only using the colour needed for your hair appointment and reducing colour waste. Since we have rolled it out in our salons, we have noticed a downward trend in our colour waste and hope to continue that trend in the next few months.
Removing Single Use Gift Card Vouchers from our Salons
We have been looking for a supplier who would help us reduce the single-use gift cards that have been a staple of all of our businesses for years. We love giving them out, and we love when you come in to get the service from them. However, once the transaction was over, we were left with a barcoded gift card that we could not easily use again.
So in February 2022, we moved to a newly designed Gift card which is still as robust as previous Gift cards, but this one is different. It is PVC based, which means it can be reused again and again by our supplier. So now, instead of holding on to years of single-use plastic gift cards, we return them for recycling into new products that will last for years more.