An award for researcher who helped reduce carbon footprint of hairdressing

An award has been handed to a Southampton Business School researcher who successfully introduced sustainable practices that can cut a typical hair salon’s water and energy bills by over £5,000 a year and reduce salons carbon footprint. Dr Denise Baden’s work in reducing the carbon footprint in the service sector by cutting costs in the UK’s £6.2 billion hairdressing industry has won her the £10,000 award for Outstanding Impact in Business and Enterprise in the 2018 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Celebrating Impact Prize. The UK’s hairdressing industry impacts CO2 emissions through high water and energy consumption and on the environment through the use of toxic chemicals and harmful waste. Dr Baden has worked since 2012 to transform the habits of the hairdressing sector and cut the UK’s carbon footprint by educating clients in eco-friendly hair care. - She launched an online Sustainable Salon Certification and virtual salon training programme for salons and stylists in April 2017. Adopting its eco-friendly practices save the average four-seat salon 286,000 litres of water, 24,150 kWh of energy and £5,300 a year. More than 50 salons and 1,000 stylists have gained this certificate which is endorsed by key industry bodies: Hairdressing Council, Hair and Beauty Industry Authority and the Vocational Training Charitable Trust. - She shaped the sustainability component of the national occupational standards which form the basis of training for the UK’s 14,000 hairdressing apprentices. - She has run more than 60 sustainability workshop and training events educating over 2,000 trainers, colleges and industry professionals about greener products and practices, including new water-saving technologies such as low-flow shower heads, leave-in conditioner and dry shampoo. Ninety-seven per cent of hairdressing trainers who attended these sessions said they gave more focus to sustainable practices as a result. - Working with leading haircare bodies she has changed the industry default recommendation for hairdressers from shampooing twice to just once – with significant water and energy savings. - International eco-hair company Davines has developed a training scheme based on her certification for salons in the 85 countries worldwide that stock their products.