21. Waste Less, Lead More: The Business Case for Sustainable Salons

[upbeat music] Hey, everybody. Welcome to The Connector, Intercoiffure's weekly podcast connecting salon owners and professionals with the leaders, artists, and innovators shaping the future of the professional salon industry. I'm your host, Gordon Miller, general manager of Intercoiffure America Canada, the industry's only not-for-profit association representing employment-based salons across the US and Canada. To learn more, visit us over at intercoiffure.com. While you're there, be sure to sign up for our free weekly newsletter, and also be sure to check us out over on Instagram where we can be found as @IntercoiffureAC. All right, before we get started, a reminder, the Intercoiffure Fall Atelier Tapestry of Beauty is coming up fast. We will be together with our entire community October 3rd through the 5th with a brilliant lineup of educators and artistic presentations and a few surprises. All right, so go over to intercoiffure.com to learn more about Tapestry of Beauty, also to reserve your hotel room and to register. On to today's guest. My guest today is Sarah Babington, head of corporate accounts and partnerships for Green Circle Salons. Since 2009, Green Circle and its community of beauty professionals have recovered more than 13 million pounds of beauty waste. Sarah, did I get that right?

You got that right.

Oh, I love it. So, so many ICA members are already working with Green Circle, and today we are going to go beyond the basics. We're gonna tr- try to dig a little bit deep. We're gonna explore how Sarah has become personally connected to the mission, I love this, um, what really happens to the waste that they collect, and why sustainability can be good for business. Um, and also dig a, a little bit into the future of what sustainability and th- this way bigger topic, um, mean for our industry. Sarah, welcome to The Connector podcast.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

We met in person for the first time at ICA Spring Gathering up in Montreal. You are a Canadian, so you didn't-

I am

... have come too far. You are where?

I'm, uh, based just outside of Toronto, Ontario.

Love that, one of my favorite cities. Um, I, um, have to say, I was so impressed with you on stage. You did Freddie Mercury.

I did do Freddie Mercury.

It was very impressive.

They gave me a 3:00 PM time slot. I had to, I had to bring the energy. [laughs] I had to bring it.

You brought the energy, and everybody loved it. Um, uh, I- I know you guys are coming to the fall atelier. Before we jump, jump into our topic, you are not gonna be bringing Freddie Mercury to, to the event. You're gonna be bringing your founder.

Yeah, we're bringing Shane Price. I think, I think he'll, uh, you know, he does well on stage. I think, I think he'll impress. He might not bring Freddie, but he's great.

We're, we're, we're excited to have him. And, and, um, and again, we're so excited to see you on stage at the Spring Gathering. All right, so before we dig into Green Circle, let's talk about you a little bit. Um, how did you get here? And, and importantly, how did you become personally involved with this really important topic of sustainability?

I mean, and this was a long journey