Eco-Friendly LA Salon Pioneers Sustainable Service Industry
Two of Hollywood's A-list hair pros cofounded a salon that's as focused on being eco-friendly as it is on hair styling. They also give back to their community by donating hair, offer gender-neutral bathrooms, and use cruelty-free products.
Updated May 26 2019, 2:36 p.m. ET
Leave it to California to play host to a new salon that's as committed to a majorly green initiative as it is to cutting-edge hair design. Colorist Lorri Goddard and stylist Cory Scott have partnered to open Loft 647, a West Hollywood hair salon that manages to incorporate eco-conscious elements and practices into almost every aspect of the business.
Scott recently explained to Vogue that while planning the salon's decor, they opted to “bring the outside inside by the use of natural, raw materials that we sourced locally." They also went so far as to consult the NASA study on Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement to figure out which plants would be best for the space, which is often filled with chemicals like ammonia and formaldehyde that generally can't be avoided at a high-end salon. Ultimately, they went with snake plants, rubber plants, dracaena, and fiddle leaf trees.
Certain furnishings and other design aspects throughout the salon were chosen with sustainability and the neighborhood's culture in mind. Consider a locally-sourced countertop made of reclaimed wood, styling chairs upholstered in vegan leather, and gender-neutral bathrooms, which speak to Goddard and Scott's ethos of making everyone feel welcome.
At the same time, the owners wouldn't be fulfilling their mission if they didn't take water and electricity practices into consideration. Thanks to the space's various skylights, they're able to rely on lots of natural, beautiful light. Of course, it's helpful that they're located in perpetually sunny Southern California. Where they do have to use electricity, they've opted for low-voltage LED bulbs. And in order to ensure she gets her clients the exact right hue they came in for, Goddard uses professional lighting equipment at her dying station.
The salon relies on electrically ionized, pH-neutral Kangen Beauty Water at the shampoo stations, which Goddard says boosts shine and calms client scalps, which are often irritated by the intense color treatments. She aims to use brands with natural, organic ingredients that are also cruelty-free, like Grown Alchemist, Kevin Murphy, and Christophe Robin.
Goddard and Scott also want to give back, so they donate hair trimmings to the Matter of Trust Clean Wave program, which uses them to help clean up oil spills. All in all, the pair is setting an example for salons everywhere. Seeing even a fraction of their progressive, eco-conscious practices implemented elsewhere would be nothing short of revolutionary.
