Not many who frequent a hair salon stop to think about the number of empty bottles and used hair foils that salons go through.

Michelle Boudreau, of The Hair Market, has done something about it, all while finding a way to pay it forward. In December 2021, Arohanui Hospice gratefully received a monetary donation, which had come about thanks to part of The Hair Market’s recycling programme. We spoke with Michelle, to find out more.

The Hair Market is a wholesale supplier to salons all over New Zealand for hairdressing supplies. “Every week we’re supplying salons with dozens of products. Without the recycling programme, that is a lot of bottles headed for landfill! That’s not even counting the foils that are being used and thrown out.” Speaking to how the idea came about, Michelle explains, “The idea of recycling came about because we were looking at packaging options and making our own branded combs. I did a bit of research on recycled plastics and found a local company that would take our used bottles and grind them up to recycle. We have put branded recycling bins in some salons for plastics and other salons just bring them into us.”

“We also take in used hairdressing foils, they don’t need to be washed or cleaned. The majority of these come from local salons but we also have out of town customers who bring foils in to contribute too. Once a month we take these to metal recyclers who pay us per kilo for them. We save the money we get all year and then choose a charity to donate the proceeds to at Christmas. This initiative is something that we would like to grow, but with Covid-19 – it’s been a bit difficult this year [2021].”

“This project raises money we wouldn’t otherwise have, so I like to be able to pay it forward. We were really pleased to choose Arohanui Hospice as our choice of charity this year, they do an incredible job and our community truly values their cause.”