Salon Red & Green Circle Salons: Giving Beauty Waste a New Life
05.01.2025
At Salon Red, we believe beauty shouldn’t come at the expense of the planet. That’s why we’re proud to be a certified member of Green Circle Salons, a collective of environmentally conscious salons across North America that are revolutionizing the beauty industry—one recycled foil, one reclaimed hair clipping at a time.
We’ve made it our mission to recycle, recover, and repurpose up to 95% of our salon’s beauty waste. That means the hair you leave behind, the excess hair color from your treatment, even used gloves and foils—all get diverted from the landfill and sent off to live a second, more sustainable life.
But what exactly is Green Circle Salons, and why are we so passionate about being part of it?
What is Green Circle Salons?
Green Circle Salons is an award-winning program that helps salons like ours drastically reduce their environmental footprint. Partnering with more than 16,000 beauty professionals and over 4,000 salons across North America, the organization has created a comprehensive recovery and recycling program specifically for salon waste.
Traditional salons create a surprising amount of waste—from hair clippings and foils to single-use products and chemical residue. Most of this material ends up in landfills or is rinsed down the drain, causing long-term damage to ecosystems. Green Circle Salons steps in with a solution, ensuring this waste is diverted, transformed, or safely processed—not dumped.
This program is so impactful, it has earned Zero Waste to Landfill certification by Carbon Trust, which means every single partner and process along the way is audited and verified for sustainability. That includes collaboration with over 40 like-minded organizations—ranging from recycling centers and bio-composite producers to clean energy facilities and chemical waste processors.
How Salon Red Is Making a Difference
At Salon Red, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword—it’s built into our everyday routine. Through our partnership with Green Circle Salons, we’ve proudly diverted a combined 2,461 pounds of beauty waste from the landfill in just two years (2023 and 2024). That’s over a ton of foils, color tubes, hair clippings, gloves, and more that now serve a purpose instead of polluting the planet.
Here’s a closer look at what we’re recycling and how it’s making an impact:
• Hair Clippings: Did you know human hair can be used to clean up oil spills? That’s right—your trimmed locks are shipped to Canada where they’re used in innovative mats that absorb oil from water, helping protect marine environments.
• Excess Hair Color: Instead of being rinsed down the drain and entering our water supply, leftover color is collected and sent to specialized facilities that safely neutralize or repurpose it for alternative uses.
• Foils, Color Tubes & Metals: These items are separated, melted down, and recycled into new aluminum products, reducing the need for raw materials and energy-intensive mining.
• Gloves, Masks & Single-Use Items: Through Green Circle’s advanced waste sorting program, even these items find new life through energy recovery systems, turning waste into clean energy.
Why We Charge an Environmental Fee
We want to be fully transparent with our guests: responsibly managing waste takes extra effort—and cost. The good news? You’re part of the solution.
To support this vital program, most services at Salon Red include a $3 environmental fee. This shared investment helps us fund the cost of collecting, storing, shipping, and processing the various materials we recycle. It also ensures we can continue improving our sustainability practices year after year.
And we want to make it clear—this fee is optional. If you have questions or concerns, we’re always here to talk. Our goal is never to add hidden fees, but to be honest about what it takes to run a beauty business that respects the earth.
Why It Matters
Every small action adds up. As climate change, pollution, and waste continue to impact our planet, industries across the board are being called to step up—and the beauty industry is no exception.
Green Circle Salons has already helped divert millions of pounds of waste from landfills, and by being a part of this community, we’re helping set a new standard for beauty with integrity. Together, we’re showing that style and sustainability can go hand in hand.
Choosing Salon Red means you’re choosing a salon that cares—not just about how you look, but about the world we live in. Whether it’s your first visit or your hundredth, we thank you for supporting our mission and helping us make a difference.
You can learn more about our sustainability efforts by asking us on your next visit, or take a deeper dive into the Green Circle Salons program.
Ready for a refresh or new style? Reserve your appointment online or you can give us a call at one of our two convenient Salon Red Atlanta locations- 404-373-2003, 804 Town Blvd, Suite 1045, Brookhaven, or 404-373-2868, 642 Dekalb Ave, Candler Park. Don’t wait—your dream hair is just an appointment away!
