Having kept 89,900kg of plastic salon waste in circulation and out of landfill since its inception, Sustainable Salons is taking its innovative approach to the next level by turning trash into trends through a closed-loop collaboration with Dresden. ‘The Shampoo Collection’ is the world’s first sunglasses, prescription sunglasses, and prescription glasses frames created entirely out of recycled shampoo bottles.
Sustainable Salons has been working with beauty, hair and even pet-grooming salons to rescue salon waste from landfill and find innovative repurposing solutions that benefit the planet and the community since 2015. They are a comprehensive resource recovery program, collecting pre-separated materials from salon businesses like hair, foil and shampoo bottles and finding recycling and repurposing solutions to keep up to 95% of their waste out of landfill and in circulation. Sustainable Salons says, “IF YOU ARE HAVING YOUR HAIR DONE AT A SALON, WHAT IS THEIR RECYCLING POLICY? ARE THEY ADDING TO THE PROBLEM OR BECOMING PART OF THE SOLUTION? WHEN YOU VISIT A SALON THAT USES SUSTAINABLE SALONS, YOU KNOW THAT YOUR WASTE ISN’T GOING TO LANDFILL AND THAT’S THE MESSAGE WE WANT TO SHARE.”
The Shampoo Collection’ is set to launch online and in Dresden stores across Australia on October 1st 2020 and the closed-loop solution will see plastic shampoo bottles collected from Sustainable Salons’ members across Australia and New Zealand and recycled into black signature Dresden frames.
The Dresden glasses system was co-founded by Bruce Jeffreys and Jason McDermotts, and is a sustainable alternative to the cyclical, disposable, eyewear fashion industry. A focus on meaningful and powerful collaborations lead the two to pair up. It’s a logical fit with both companies sharing the same sustainable values and a chance to create the world’s first closed-loop glasses created entirely out of shampoo bottles, and with a vision to use the glasses to educate consumers about the impact their lifestyles can have on the environment. Founder of Dresden Vision, Bruce Jeffreys says,
“THIS PROJECT IS SOMETHING WE’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF; LINKING UP WITH A BUSINESS THAT HAS A WASTE PROBLEM AND COLLABORATING TO CREATE A NEW, EXCITING PRODUCT. IT’S NOT ONLY AMAZING IN TERMS OF RECYCLING WASTE BUT WE ALSO HOPE IT ACTS AS A CATALYST TO ENCOURAGE INNOVATIVE THINKING FOR FUTURE USES OF WASTE PLASTICS.”
All the proceeds from Sustainable Salons recycling are donated to OzHarvest (Australia) and KiwiHarvest (New Zealand); both charitable organisations are dedicated to fighting food waste and feeding the most vulnerable in our community. Sustainable Salons is also the largest collector of ponytails in the Southern Hemisphere. All collected ponytails 20cm or longer are distributed to charitable organisations to create wigs for those suffering from cancer or alopecia.
You can find Sustainable Salons member salons by going to Where to Recycle here on ekko.world. Put in your location, then Body > Hair and your closest Member Salons will come up.