Two big contributors to salon waste got a green upgrade this month as biodegradable alternatives for traditional color foils and disposable gloves hit the mass market in North America.
R+Color teamed up with New Zealand-based Paper Not Foil on paper-based foil replacements, while Cutler Salon co-founders Rodney Cutler and Tyson Kennedy launched eco-friendly versions of nitrile gloves:
- The foil alternatives, which recently became available on R+Co’s pro site, conduct heat the same as traditional foils. They can be machine washed and dried, and reused up to six times before discarding.
- Cutler Pro Gloves are made from nitrile with a biodegradable additive. They were developed and tested for performance in Cutler Salons’ East and West Coast locations before they got the green light for mass distribution as part of the Cutler Pro sustainable product line.
Both products are also available via Sustain Beauty Co., which teamed up with Cutler Pro to develop the eco-friendly gloves.
“We are really excited to be partnering with a stylist-founded brand that really put their heart and minds to designing these gloves,” says Sustain founder Valorie Tate.
“Their goal was to create a sustainable, comfortable, tailored glove with a longer cuff that felt so light you would forget you were wearing them. The result is the Cutler Pro Glove designed using new technology that makes these nitrile-based gloves biodegradable.”
Beauty salons in the U.S. and Canada generate 421,000 pounds of waste per day, according to a 2023 impact report by Green Circle Salons.