Blogs & News Archives - Anne Veck - EDUCATOR | HAIR ARTIST

Anne Veck Limited releases Sustainability Report 2024/25

August 13, 2025
by Keith Mellen

We wrote our first company CO2 emissions and nature positive plans in 2023 and reviewed them last year. This time round we have combined the two into one sustainability report with an updated set of targets for 25/26. Read on to find out why. This blog puts the plan in context and gives you the link to the full document. Our hope is that others will take the time to write a plan and take action. Feel free to copy ours!

To support you in your sustainability journey we list some other useful links at the end of this piece.

INTRODUCTION

Anne Veck Limited

Anne Veck Limited is a micro SME based in Oxford, U.K. The company was founded in 1991 and until 2022 operated hairdressing salons. By March 2022 these had been sold and since then the business has focused on hairdressing training, photo shoots, shows and session work, as well as championing sustainability in the hair and beauty sector.

Until 2022 turnover was c.£960,000 p.a. with c.20 employees. Today turnover is c.£70,000 with 2 employees (2 company directors). The business operates from a hair salon (Kelly’s Hair Oxford), a home office and studio and at customers’ premises in the U.K., Europe and occasionally elsewhere.

Since investing in major “green” salon refits from 2013 onwards, Anne Veck Limited has been recognised as a leading champion of sustainable hairdressing in the U.K. with several industry awards and accreditations and an active programme of advocacy. Research shows that most people are concerned about climate change and nature loss but don’t often talk about it. We hope that our advocacy work which extends from chatting in the salon to on line media influencing, will encourage more conversations which will, in a very small way, impact this societal norm of silence so as to influence political and business action.

Anne Veck Limited is a founder member and sponsor of the U.K. Business and Biodiversity Forum (UKBBF) and a member of the British Beauty Council’s Sustainable Beauty Coalition (SBC). Director Keith Mellen is a director at UKBBF and a member of SBC’s professional services task force. Director Anne Veck is a brand ambassador for B Corp brands Easydry and Olivia Garden, Sustainability Champion for the Hairstyling Tools Collective and Global Ambassador for the Slow Fashion Movement.

This report

Anne Veck Limited (AV) published its Carbon Emissions Reduction Plan 2023-30 and Nature Positive Business Plan 2023-30 separately in May 2023, with annual reviews in June and July 2024 respectively. Unless otherwise stated, 24/25 = 1/5/24 to 31/4/25 and 25/26 = 1/5/25 to 31/4/26.

With this 2nd annual review, we report on progress in an integrated Sustainability Report and have rewritten the two plans as a Sustainability Plan. We have done this to reflect the reality that the climate and nature emergencies are inextricably linked, in fact part of a “polycrisis” across climate change, nature loss and inequality.

As a micro business, AV’s impact on nature is insignificant. However, we hope that by sharing our plan we might encourage other small businesses to transition towards Net Zero and Nature Positive, especially those in the hairdressing sector.

AV has signed up to the U.N.’s SME Race to Zero and is the only SME globally to have its nature strategy endorsed by Business For Nature’s Its Now for Nature programme. (At time of writing.We hope this situation changes soon.) AV has also taken the U.K.’s Nature Positive Business Pledge.

A note about reporting on our value chain (Scope 3): small businesses usually lack the financial and reputational influence to enforce ethical and sustainable improvements by their suppliers and customers. In fact our experience is that our major suppliers and some of our customers which are all larger businesses than AV, will not or can not supply us with data on CO2 emissions, never mind impacts on nature (which at the moment, most don’t consider). Because of this our choice of suppliers is directed by researching their sustainability /ESG reports and/or their accreditations or lack of them. For example, whenever possible, we choose suppliers (e.g. for hair care products, towels, energy, waste management and recycling) which are B Corp and/or are FSC, RoSPA, Fairtrade, Leaping Bunny, etc. certified. We also consult Ethical Consumer’s “Ethiscore”.

Finally, we have set new targets for 2025/26, followed by a brief list of links to AV sustainability assets.

Here is the link to the full report and new plan.

Fxxked up but fixed it – wedding hair service!

This piece was first published in Creative HEAD magazine, in their Fxxked up but fixed it series.
It’s about how Anne tried to scale down her wedding hair service but instead doubled it!

I opened my first salon in Oxford back in 1991. I’ve always loved styling and hair up so it wasn’t long before I developed a small on location wedding hair and make-up side hustle. Then a few years’ later, along came the kids! So when the girls were little, I decided I wanted Saturdays off to have more time with them. But this would mean reducing the wedding business which was going well and of course was mainly Saturdays. After much thought and talking it through with my partner Keith, who wasn’t involved much in the business then, I took the decision that quality time with Chloe and Manon was worth more than my wedding sales. After all, the salon was doing well and Keith had a full time career going on.

So I doubled my wedding hair & make-up prices overnight. That’ll sort it, I thought. I’ve overpriced myself out of the market. Weekends off here we come! But that wasn’t what happened at all. Instead demand for Anne Veck wedding hair shot through the roof, literally doubling. Suddenly I had up to 3 wedding appointments on location each Saturday and I needed to train one of my team to support me. (However, I did try and be a good mum, by taking a week day off instead. )

I learnt a very useful lesson about value and pricing. The unintended consequence of raising my prices was to increase business not reduce it. Clearly I had been doing wedding hair on the cheap. Brides look for quality of service and hairdressing on their big day and by increasing my hourly rate, I communicated that my wedding hair was top quality. For the next few years at least I was probably Oxford’s wedding hairdresser of choice and wedding hair and make-up increased to 10% of our total sales. (Then people stopped getting married. But that’s another story!)

Enquire here about Anne’s bridal hair service and for bridal and red carpet hairdressing training with Anne, check this out.

Hairdressing training with Anne Veck

Anne is now taking hairdressing training bookings for autumn/winter 2025/26 so we thought we’d share an excerpt from one of her recent award entries! Call her on 07525498903 or email anne@anneveckhair.com for more info and hurry, Mondays are starting to be booked already.

“My passion is sharing my skills and creativity with my peers and inspiring the next generation of hairdressers to succeed. Continuous education is essential in order to grow professionally and to maintain and improve standards.
I work 2 days each week on the floor at Kelly’s Hair Oxford.and from time to time at leading black hair salon SG Hair in Birmingham. As a result, my teaching is grounded in practical salon experience to help participants motivate their teams, retain more clients and increase sales. This business benefit aspect is essential to ensure my education customers receive value for money.
Just because you are an expert doesn’t mean you are a good teacher. So to ensure that I am a credible and effective educator, I studied for the HABC Level 3 Award in Education and Training, which I achieved in 2016.
I believe that students learn best when taught in a method appropriate for their learning style. My experience backs this up. Therefore I provide a range of education, including workshops, seminars, one to one training, mentoring, on line lessons and written material.

WHAT I TEACH
I enjoy teaching at all levels, particularly the basics. A strong understanding of theory is fundamental for any aspiring hairdresser. Both cutting, styling and colour are subjective experiences, so mastering the rules is crucial before breaking them. My education brochure features the following subjects as a guide to prospective customers:
The Perfect Consultation, Bridal Hair Styling, The Perfect Blow-dry, Vintage Essentials, Braiding and Knotting, Colour Correction, Perming: A Modern Guide, Foundation Cutting, Progressive Cutting, Afro for Beginners, Curl Lab, Sustainable Hairdressing and Avant-garde behind the Scenes.

I also offer mentoring to salon owners. At the moment I’m working with two of my former salon managers, now salon owners and have participated in Creative HEAD’s Activator programme since it started.

WHO I TEACH
I teach in the U.K. and Europe with occasional forays further afield and I work in English or French. My main target audience is groups rather than individual hairdressers, so I work with salons, academies, wholesalers and brands. Generally I go to them although I also welcome groups to the Anne Veck Academy at one of my old salons, now Edith et Moi. My current portfolio of clients includes Kelly’s Hair Oxford; Edith et Moi Bicester; Boutique Hair & Beauty Oxford; Freelance Hairdressers Association; Davines Italy; Davines France; Davines UK, Y-Coiffure salons Paris, Maison de la Coiffure, Auxerrre and Limoges and le Centre de Formation d’Apprentis in La Reunion.

I also enjoy the challenge of attracting and keeping an audience for demonstrations at trade events such as Salon International, HairCon and Colour World.”

And here is just one of many testimonials from one of Anne’s regular customers:
Anne was fantastic, I’ve learned so much. She’s so knowledgeable, approachable and passionate about textured hair. The course was delivered in a very relaxed but structured way, building up foundation as the hair structure which helped me to understand how curly hair reacts to chemicals. Also how textured hair needs to be cared and loved. There were different levels of knowledge through the team and she responded to each individual need, with enthusiasm, respect and patience. I’m confident that everyone gained from this training. Tia Jacobs, Owner, Edith et Moi May 2025.

Do get in touch with Anne on 07525498903 or email anne@anneveckhair.com and there’s more here.

Why we use recycled aluminium- guest blog by Jessica Parrish

In this guest blog our friend the wonderful Jessica Parrish explains why she uses recycled aluminium to package her ethical and sustainable curly hair care products:

“Why We Use Recycled Aluminium at Shedid & Parrish

Plastic waste is a significant problem in the beauty industry. We’ve always used recycled aluminium and here’s why!

At Shedid & Parrish, we believe sustainability shouldn’t be a luxury – it should be a given. That’s why every decision we make, from ingredient sourcing to packaging, is designed to reduce our impact on the planet while delivering professional grade care for textured and curly hair. One of the most powerful choices we’ve made is using recycled aluminium for our packaging and here’s why it matters.

The Plastic Problem in Beauty

The beauty industry generates over 120 billion units of packaging every year; as has been highlighted by The INDUSTRY.beauty in their 2024 article; most of which are not recyclable. Plastic waste clogs our oceans, pollutes our landscapes, and takes centuries to break down. As a brand committed to protecting both people and the planet, we knew we had to be part of the solution – not the problem.

If not plastic packaging, what are the alternatives?

Glass is recyclable but heavy and fragile. Bioplastics are still debated in terms of true sustainability. Aluminium, on the other hand, is a game-changer. Not only is it infinitely recyclable, it’s also lightweight, durable, and helps preserve product integrity. That’s why we’ve chosen recycled aluminium as our primary packaging material.

5 Key Benefits of Choosing Aluminium

Infinitely Recyclable
Aluminium can be recycled over and over without losing quality – unlike plastic, which degrades each time it’s processed.
Lightweight & Travel-Friendly
Our sleek aluminium travel bottles are perfect for on-the-go styling and hydration, without the weight or waste.
Durable & Protective
Aluminium keeps your products safe from light, air, and moisture – preserving their quality longer.
Lower carbon footprint
Producing recycled aluminium uses 95% less energy than producing it from raw materials according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI)
Elegant & Reusable
Our minimalist designs aren’t just beautiful – they’re made to be refilled, reused, and cherished.

Sustainable Beauty, Reimagined

Shedid & Parrish packaging isn’t just aesthetically considered – it’s ethically driven oh and did we say beautiful too! Our refillable aluminium bottles are designed to be used again and again. They’re practical for travel, reduce single-use waste, and align with our mission to support mindful beauty routines.

It shouldn’t be difficult to be considerate so we’re making it easier for us all to do the right thing.

Conscious Packaging, Conscious Care

Our environment is precious. And while we’re proud of what’s inside every Shedid & Parrish product, we know what it’s packaged in matters too. By choosing recycled aluminium, we’re investing in a future where beauty and sustainability go hand in hand.

You can feel confident that with all of your Shedid & Parrish choices, you’ll be considering the planet as well as your curls.

Every refill, every reuse, every conscious choice – it all adds up.”

So now you know! Keep a look out for more Shedid & Parrish / Anne Veck collaborations! And for more on sustainable hairdressing, all is revealed here.

Anne Veck Investigates: is plastic pollution really the problem?

May 27, 2025
by Keith Mellen

Is plastic pollution really the problem or is it a distraction?
Adapted from an article by Martin Attrill Professor of Marine Ecology, University of Plymouth published in The Conversation 27/5/25

The flow of plastics into the ocean must certainly be stopped but Martin Attrill worries that the plastic pollution problem is a bandwagon that so many businesses, media outlets and governments have jumped on. Has a decade-long focus on “solving” the plastic crisis been a troublesome distraction? There has certainly been a great deal of attention given to it by the hairdressing industry with major brands supporting recycling programmes like Plastic Bank. And on the front line, individual salons and freelance hairdressers are queuing up to take action to reduce single use plastic. Banning single-use straws and refill schemes can seem like an easy win because leaders can be seen to be taking action when these actually do little to solve the ocean’s biggest problems.

This is because the big problem in the oceans is not plastic pollution, its fishing! The most complex and hard to resolve activities that seriously harm our seas, such as industrial overfishing, are still not being dealt with. The most damaging fishing practices such as trawling and dredging continue legally, astonishingly even within designated marine protected areas. Such highly damaging activities have no place near sensitive habitats.

And its not just biodiversity and fisheries that are damaged. It is also the capacity of the seas to absorb and retain CO2 that is essential in the battle against climate change. Oceans full of life (and not just the great whales) sequester far more carbon than marine dead zones with just a few small fish left in them. (e.g. the North Sea and the Irish Sea).

The recent UK ban on sand eel fishing gives some hope. This landmark decision was made to benefit nature (protecting food supply for seabirds), restricting a fishery that does not even supply food for humans. Sand eels are used to make fishmeal and fish oil to feed farmed fish and livestock. On the other hand the UK has, according to some, just betrayed small fishers and fisheries by agreeing to the EU fishing in UK waters for another 12 years. And EU fishing fleets love sand eels!

Damaging fishing practices such as trawling and dredging continue legally, even within designated marine protected areas. Such highly damaging activities have no place near sensitive habitats.

Martin Attrill has worked as a marine ecologist for 40 years. He firmly believes that the most effective and straightforward solution for the UK is to prohibit all towed fishing gear from within at least three miles of the coast – including developing a series of fully protected marine reserves.

In Lyme Bay, this approach has led to a real win-win because the seas are now recovering, and local fishers, holidaymakers and coastal communities are benefiting too. But having read this, please don’t stop your good work on plastics! That IS important. For more about what to do, check out our sustainable hairdressing tool kits. Get yours here.

Image by Nataliya Vaitkevich

Businesses taking biodiversity seriously!

Business and biodiversity. Great post on LinkedIn by Emma Toovey from Environment Bank about the benefits of membership of UK Business & Biodiversity Forum . Join now here in taking biodiversity and business seriously!

“Did you know that the total asset value of ecosystem services in the UK was estimated at around £1.8 trillion in 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.

🌊 And nearly half of companies on the London Stock Exchange are highly or moderately dependent on nature, says PwC (a widely argued under-estimate).

🤓 Adopters of the voluntary Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosure framework has seen an increase of at least 30%

Businesses are navigating a new world where understanding and addressing biodiversity and nature-related risks, dependencies and opportunities are increasingly becoming critical in making good decisions for a sustainable, resilient and viable business. But it is not easy!

If this is your business and you want to join a supportive community of professionals looking to integrate biodiversity into operations then I would highly encourage you to join the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum as a member. Join today for a whole range of brilliant benefits.”

A great post. But UK Business and Biodiversity Forum membership is not just for the big players because it’s good for small and medium sized businesses too. So if you run a salon or a wholesaler or L’Oreal, Davines, Aveda or any of the other brands talking the talk about sustainability and nature, then do join us at UKBBF. Be part of the movement of businesses working to integrate nature into their decisions and operations.

Transparency alert! Keith is a director at UKBBF and Anne Veck Limited is a sponsor and member,so call Keith on 01865 744612 if you’d like to know more. Or if you are shy, email him on keith@anneveckhair.com and for more about sustainable hairdressing, this is the place to go!

Feeling the Love!

Recently Anne has received 3 lovely hair artist reviews from our friends in the hairdressing media. Here they are, starting with one specifically about Anne’s recent collaborative collection “Chimera”, shot in our back garden. If you are wondering what “collaborative” signifies, it means that everyone involved worked free of charge and the resulting images are free to use by all. Anne loves this approach and it can be very productive indeed.

Nicky Pope editor Respect for Hair

We’ve come to expect nothing less from Anne Veck than ethereal beauty that questions our existence. Chimera is a work of art, merging the human and the machine to create a beautiful chimera – a unique and unexpected form. “We expressed this inspiration by combining both natural and artificial elements to create the looks,” explains Anne. “Glue for hair, metal jump rings, a dress made from tubing, but shot in a natural garden setting.”

A masterpiece!

Charlotte Grant-West Editor Hairdressers Journal International

Anne Veck is my go-to if we’re looking for an expert quote
on sustainability. And not just from a salon business
perspective, Anne has shown time and time again how you
can be brilliantly (madly!) creative, all with sustainability
front of mind. In a nutshell – Anne has been doing
sustainability before it was even a buzzword, she’s the OG.”

Nicola Shannon Editor Professional Hairdresser

“If you say ‘Anne Veck’ I immediately think…..utterly brilliant
– a leader on diversity and inclusivity and someone who has
really invested and continues to invest in their own
education to drive into areas of specialism. She is a hero on
sustainability and for Avant-garde work too. At Professional
Hairdresser we are firm Anne fans!”

Images from Chimera
Creative team:
Hair Anne Veck
Make-up/ Model Ace Tran
Photography Hugh Finnerty
Styling Chloe Mellen for Dirty French Girl Bijoux
Dress Designer Eloise Lepetre for La Dame de Coeur

Thank you for these lovely hair artist reviews!

On her bike! Making hairdressing education effective and sustainable!

Sustainability and training are two of Anne Veck’s greatest passions, and with an inspired re-work of her educational offering for local Oxfordshire salons, she has found a way to combine the two with phenomenal effect!

“Keeping it local has been a really revolutionary training move for me, it has so many advantages and I think meets team and individual training needs in a very ‘of the moment’ way. ” Says Anne.

Anne came up with some creative and sustainable solutions for local hairdressing training:

• A problem I hear time and again is the cost of training, the time it takes out of the salon and the expenses incurred by team members getting there.
• An optimal learning period is two hours – covering a topic at a time and keeping a short, sharp focus.
• There was an inconsistency, one big burst of training, a day or a two day course, and then nothing for weeks or months.
• The solution to these problems has proven remarkably simple.
• I keep training close to home, that way I work around the time that the salon has available – rather than the other way around, it is trainee and salon led. This means short, regular training sessions that really meet the current and emerging needs of the business and the team. Budget savvy and mindful of the impact on the planet.

With this approach, Anne has met the frustrations of salon owners with current training head-on, and gone are the full day absences and holidays and the big financial impact with the ‘all or nothing’ effect.

“Ultimately, I observed that the effectiveness of full-day training was limited by the staff’s ability to retain information, often only remembering around 50% of the content, and that does not serve anyone well, either the learner or the salon funding the training.”

Anne’s solutions and response to these difficulties has been a new model of local hairdressing training.

I have developed 2-4 hour sessions for nearby salons (within a 30 mile radius of where I live). Preferring to maintain my commitment to the in-person training (again retention rates are shown to be higher for in-person training versus online).

This flexible approach allows for easier integration into salon schedules. Limiting sessions to 2-3 participants enables me to deliver highly targeted training.
Keep in touch training means that I provide supplementary learning materials for trainees to review between sessions on Instagram.

I am now part of the in-house training teams for three salons and bring weekly or bi-weekly input.

As part of this I have found it essential and valued to uphold regular communication with the owners to drive through the training’s positive impact.

I love that this combines the best of all worlds, and with the training being local, I take to the road on my bike, with my training materials in my back pack, mental as well as physical fitness!

Want to know more? Want to book Anne for some hairdressing training? email anne@anneveckhair.com, call 01865 744612 or grab your copy of her new education brochure here! Or for an overview check this out.

IT’S EARTH MONTH- SIMPLE STEPS FOR YOUR HAIRDRESSING BUSINESS TO TAKE

IT’S EARTH MONTH – SIMPLE STEPS FOR YOUR HAIRDRESSING BUSINESS TO TAKE
We hear a lot about how to reduce our carbon emissions, including amazing tech solutions. But there still seems to be a lack of awareness that we can tackle both nature and climate simultaneously. Whilst not everthying you can do to address climate change is good for nature, pretty much everything you can do for biodiversity is also good for climate. Creative HEAD magazine asked us for some ideas about this for the April issue ( April is Earth Month) so here is what we told them…

“How to get Started – how to reduce your hairdressing business’s negative impact on nature as well as your impact on climate at the same time. Applies to salon/space owners, individual hairdressers whether employed or freelance. Because saving the planet is something everyone can help with!

Because hair salons and freelancers generally don’t own or manage huge areas of land or have private nature reserves (!), then the major impact and difference we can make is through our suppliers.

Here’s a check list of “nature positive” actions arranged by nature/climate impact.

Stop forest destruction. Not just in the Amazon, South east Asian and African rain forests but closer to home as well. Help save rare species like orang utans and bonobos, as well as the trillions of plants and animals that make up the ecosystems that support human society. And of course essential for absorbing and retaining carbon.

What you can do:

Ditch paper and card price lists, appointment cards, loyalty cards etc. All the well known salon software brands can do this digitally much better and paper free via your and your clients’ mobiles and devices.

Go paper free with your books and accounts too. Small business accounting software can do this for you.

Check your colour house/product supplier for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and ROSPA (Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil) accreditation. With these there is less chance that original tropical rainforests and temperate old growth forests have been trashed to produce their products and packaging. Palm oil is in almost everything but alternative oils use up even more land, so banning palm oil is not a solution. Just need to use less!

Ditto if you use compostable towels. Several of the best known brands have impressive accreditations including FSC which is important because these towels are made from trees! But check before you buy because one or two say the right things but don’t have independent certification. Danger of greenwashing.

Consider using a mineral based building industry by product manufactured meche instead of aluminium foils. (That was a mouth full! I think there is one brand available.) The manufacture of aluminium foils includes a proportion of virgin aluminium. There are NO foils made from 100% recycled aluminium, despite what some wholesalers tell us! The raw material for aluminium is bauxite, sourced mainly in open cast mines in tropical Africa and South America, sometimes involving human rights abuses as well as forest destruction.

Reduce waste and pollution which kills marine (and freshwater) life. And which reduces the capacity of our oceans to absorb CO2.

What you can do:

Check your product supplier for the type of plastic packaging they use, whether you can return it and whether they offer a refill service. Whether they support one of the plastic reclamation schemes like Plastic Bank. Some manufacturers use glass or aluminium, better for nature although fairly heavy on energy use in the manufacturing process.

Minimise the amount of plastic microfibres you release into the environment by avoiding microfibre products such as microfibre towels and by using a microfibre collection device in your washing machine. Microfibres are everywhere, literally, including your body!

Use one of the colour software products on the market which help you reduce colour waste. Unless you use one of the 100% organic planet and people friendly brands ( mainly smaller, less well known) colour waste contains nasty chemicals that kill wildlife, which reduces the capacity of the oceans to absorb carbon. There is also a comprehensive colour management product available which, if used correctly, will reduce waste to zero. Or just take care, measure your waste in a bowl and make sure you use less!

And squeeze every last drop from the colour tube!

Make sure your recycling service accepts and cleans used foils and colour tubes. If they don’t then these aluminium products will be incinerated or sent to land fill (God knows where!). There are several very well known hair and beauty specialists, check their websites for the details.

Stop cruelty to animals and go veggie or vegan.

Scientists tell us that the single most important thing we can do to reduce our carbon emissions is to reduce the amount of meat and dairy products we eat. (Just so you know, its cow burps more than farts that do the damage!) Indoor and battery farming are cruel and even outdoors and free range, cattle and chickens are deprived of a natural herd or flock life. Eg all or most male offspring slaughtered at birth. (So this is a good thing I hear you say!)

What you can do:

Use oat milk instead of cow milk. Oat milk is better for the environment than most of the others. Pea milk is good apparently, but I never see it in the supermarket!

Look out for the Leaping Bunny certification on all sorts of products. This guarantees that no new animal tests were used in the development of any product displaying it. The logo can be seen on packaging, advertising, and websites for refreshments as well as cosmetics and cleaning products.

Raise awareness and support nature conservation charities.

What you can do:

You can of course make a donation or sign up as a sponsor (your local county wildlife trust will have a business sponsors’ scheme) but maybe a better idea is to organise a charity hair do day with all proceeds going to the wildlife charity. We used to do this at Anne Veck salons and it was always successful.
Shout about everything you are doing to be more sustainable, to reduce your carbon emissions and to be more nature positive. Think about this as part of your marketing mix. Your clients will love it and tell their friends.
Get your team (if you have one) on board. Talk about what you are doing with your clients and with maybe a million or more people having their hair done every week, that’s potentially a powerful force for change!

For more info and support

Get hold of Anne Veck’s sustainable hairdressing tool kit: either Freelance RE:Source or Salon RE:Source. Everything ( well almost) you need to know! Here are the links:

Salon version bit.ly/SalonReSourceUK

Freelancer version bit.ly/3zOdCJE

Check out the Anne Veck Nature Positive Business Plan. The only nature plan in the world written by a small business to be endorsed by Business for Nature. We are feeling lonely, if we can do this, so can you!

Have a look at the Nature Positive Business Pledge. The blueprint for going nature positive. We used it to write our plan.

Join the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum. A “safe space” for businesses of all sectors and sizes to exchange ideas and information on including nature friendly practices into your business.

Anne Veck Investigates: Foiled Again!

Anne Veck Investigates: Hair foils. Foiled Again!

You probably already know that aluminium, including hair foils, is almost infinitely recyclable and globally, most of it is still in use after many, many years.

You may have seen suppliers advertising that their hair foils are made from recycled aluminium, with the wording leading the reader to believe that they are 100% made from 100% recycled aluminium.

There is at least one supplier in the UK who states categorically on their website that their foils are manufactured 100% from recycled aluminium. Keith has spoken to them and after some verbal squirming and wriggling, they admitted that this wasn’t the case.

The truth is that all aluminium colour foils are made from a mix of recycled and virgin aluminium because the thinness required is not achievable otherwise. The Aluminium Federation tell us that in theory it could be possible to create a closed circle process by which sufficient amounts of used foils were used to make new foils. But no one is doing this, so research project any one?

This important because most aluminium is made from bauxite mined in China, Australia, Brazil and Guinea. Rain forest and biodiversity destruction as well as human rights abuses and pollution can take place in some of these locations. So not ideal.

So what are alternatives? Plastic meche is one of course – but plastic is made from oil so not great. “Paper” meche such as Paper Not Foil may be the best option because its made from industrial waste (stone) from the construction industry. Re-usable and non toxic, so even if it ends up in landfill it doesn’t do much harm.

Green Salon Collective recommend aluminium foil over the “paper” option because of its amazing recyclability but to make this work you MUST have your used foils collected by them, Recycle My Salon, Full Circle or Salon Cycle (others may be available!). Otherwise it will end up in incineration or landfill because used foils cannot be recycled unless they are cleaned and most waste and recycling services do not do this. Apparently most hairdressers and salons just bin their used hair foils which is appalling and to be blunt, just plain lazy.

(The same applies to your colour tubes. After you have squeezed out the last drop, make sure they are recycled by one of the good guys above!)

For much more on all aspects of sustainability in hairdressing including links to download our tool kits, wizz over to here!

Thanks for reading! And remember, the 3 Rs: Reduce, re-use, recycle, in that order. The less waste the better. Sustainability saves you money because you use and buy less.
Bisous

Anne x

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Anne Veck Investigates: Hair foils. Foiled Again!

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