Coiffeurs Justes and Wavy, a step towards ecology in hairdressing

Thierry Gras, hairdresser for nearly 30 years, has always been sensitive to the fair and eco-responsible approach. This is why he decided to create the association Coiffeurs Justes 3 years ago. Coiffeurs Justes consists in recovering and reusing hair, which has many virtues. Thierry Gras and his association are one of the first actors to treat hair for its ecological benefit.

Coiffeurs Justes and Wavy are joining forces to develop ecology in the sector.

Why Righteous Hairdressers?

In a hair salon, hair represents 50% of the total waste, i.e. between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of hair are cut in total. Hair is discarded every day, whereas it could be used in many areas for good.

Thierry Gras, founder of Coiffeurs Justes, understood this and he decided to make a difference by proposing to hair salons to collect their clients' hair and put it in bags financed by brands such as Jacques Seban. A bag can contain about 2 KG of hair, which represents 220 cuts. On average, hair salons fill a bag in one month.  

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Coiffeurs Justes simply asks that everyone becomes aware of the need to mobilize for the environment.

The organization allows hairdressers to set up actions on their own scale by providing recycled cardboard bags for only 25 €/year. Are you a client of Wavy ? Then your subscription with Coiffeurs Justes is 20 €/year!

What can you really do with hair?

The recycling of this organic material has a major effect on the environment. Here's what hair recycling can do today:

• Hair filters oil in fishing harbours and in the oceans during an oil spill. An oil spill is an industrial and ecological disaster, resulting from an oil leak in a coastal area. Hair absorbs up to 8 L of oil (hydrocarbon) according to Thierry Gras, and it is important to keep in mind that hair can be washed in order to be reused in other circumstances. Indeed, hair can also filter out: solar oils that create a thin layer of UV filters and are harmful to corals; pollutant laden water in road storm pools .

• Hair can be used for building insulation. Indeed, according to Thierry Gras, hair is not 100% compressible because it is cylindrical. The hair cannot therefore be totally crushed, which is the main reason why hair makes very good insulators.
• Hair can be used as a natural organic fertilizer
• And all of this creates jobs!

With more than 200 members of Coiffeurs Justes in June 2019, Wavy and Coiffeurs Justes are joining forces to unite all hairdressersto adopt an ecological approach in their salon thanks to a simple gesture: put the cut hair in a bag!

And yes, it's as simple as this... Use the bag provided by Coiffeurs Justes instead of using a garbage bag! All customers Wavy who wish to be part of the Coiffeurs Justes approach only have to get closer to the association by explicitly expressing that you are a customer Wavy ! You benefit from a reduction of 5 euros on the annual fee of 25 euros.

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You can also involve your customers in this ecological approach, for example by increasing your prices by a few cents, or by installing an urn.

When will Fair Hairdressers be able to activate recycling?

In order to be able to buy the machinery the association needs, Coiffeurs Justes must have a total of 10 tons of hair. These machines will be used to make the filters that will be used to clean the water.

Thierry Gras and his association rely on members, donations and funds to move forward.