What do salons do with your hair when you’ve cut it? Some throw them away, but others keep them for recycling. This is the case for the Baraboucle and Saint Algue salons, which consider themselves to be “responsible”. By collecting the hair of their customers, they act in favor of the planet thanks to a common partner: Capillum.
5.6 tonnes of hair recycled in two years
After each of her haircuts, Kimberley, Baraboucle’s hairdressing director, takes care to collect the hair to put it in a sorting bin. “As soon as the bag is full, we make a request to Capillum on the Internet,” she explains to 20 minutes.
“One small step for man, one giant leap for humanity”, they say. This small, simple gesture has enabled the entire Saint-Algue network to collect 5.6 tonnes of hair since 2022, i.e. 2.4 tonnes in 2022 and 3.2 tonnes in 2023 on this date.
“We chose Capillum because it is an efficient and serious partner. We know what they do with the hair, there is a real eco-responsible approach behind it,” says Frédéric Auffret, director of the Saint Algue network.. “We do education, with our hairdressers, so that they really understand what it’s for, but also with our customers. 99.9% of them donate their hair and are satisfied with it,” he explains to 20 minutes.
Hair cut then upgraded
Clément Baldellou co-founded Capillum with one idea in mind: “Today’s waste is tomorrow’s resources”. And he is not wrong, because with points and forks, the body manages to act positively on two ecosystems that regulate the climate: the oceans and the forests.
Firstly on water pollution control, you should know that the hair absorbs eight times its weight in hydrocarbons. Second, by creating mulch mats. By retaining water in the soil, the hair can halve the water supply in the plantations.
“Current absorbers are petro-engineered. We are offering a better alternative by harnessing the potential of hair instead of it being thrown away,” Capillum’s president told 20 minutes. By collecting hair once a month in their partner salons, the company has reached 100 tons of hair collected in total.
Salons go even further in their eco-responsible actions
In addition to their partnership with Capillum, responsible salons have many other ways to show their commitments. Kimberley, explains to 20 minutes that the Baraboucle salon works on different scales to be more eco-responsible. “At Baraboucle, you will only find natural and organic products. We also use plant-based coloring, which is very important for enhancing the hair fiber without damaging it,” confides the hairdresser.
“We have a reflection on energy consumption, we use LED light in our living rooms, our work clothes are made of organic cotton,” says Frédéric Auffret. As a bonus, the group also organizes “clean walks” to pick up litter on the beaches. “We always try to go further, it’s in our DNA,” he adds. The group also donates funds to associations such as Project Rescue Ocean, which also received a check for 5,000 euros on June 7, for World Ocean Day.