Hair Cut with a Green Touch
Wilson Leung, Managing Director, City Cut Salon
City Cut corporate culture and philosophy
City Cut was founded in 1989 and has always adhered to the business philosophy of professionalism, professional ethics and continuous innovation. The operation and management in City Cut is based on the four core values of branding, quality, character and morality.
Branding: We emphasis greatly on brand management. We believe that high quality and efficient brand operation and management is the core of an enterprise’s survival and development. After nearly 30 years of trial and error, we have established our own unique brand operation and management system.
Quality: The skill and service quality of a hair stylist is crucial in strengthening our business competitiveness. We encourage employees to keep up with fashionable hairdressing trends and keep learning to improve various standards through continuing education, to provide cordial and attentive service, and always put the interests of customers first.
Character: We require employees to pursue a career in this industry with integrity and humility and to treat every customer with enthusiasm and sincerity, with the slogan of “Turning Your Passion Into Hair Fashion” and a spirit of unity. We inject our staff with vitality and offer them greatest amount of space for development.
Morality: We cultivate and encourage employees/apprentice to be proactive and conscientious. We establish team spirit by participating in voluntary work, responding to diversified social service needs, and giving back to the community. We also actively promote the "zero emission" environmental concept. (Furthermore, when we provide voluntary hair cut service, we save a lot of training wigs, achieving a win-win-win situation for sustainable development).
Commitment to environmental protection
1. We integrate the concept of environmental protection into the overall management policy
• When choosing cleaning agents, we will choose biodegradable and environmentally friendly cleaning agents that are high quality and without lead content or harmful substance
• We do bulk purchase to reduce packaging waste and avoid the use of disposable items, such as disposable cups used by guests (and we constantly lobby other product suppliers to provide environmentally friendly packaging and use discounts to encourage customers to buy environmentally friendly or recyclable hair products)
• We separate plastic and paper wastes for recycling, such as newspapers, magazines, old receipts and etc. We keep used bottles to encourage customers to reuse
• We reduce paper consumption by using recycled envelopes, using the blank side of used paper, and using more e-fax and e-mail for communication
• We adopt the 5S practice to manage materials and operations and recycle packaging materials from customers for recycling. For example, when giving away hair care and hairdressing products to customers, we encourage customers to bring back the packaging and to purchase environmentally friendly hair products by offering discounts to encourage green behavior
• We require suppliers to recycle their packaging materials, such as the large plastic containers for shampoo and conditioner. Moreover, we apply precise amounts of hair dye and hair lotion to avoid wasting resources
• We implemented an environmental improvement plan and use electrical appliances with Grade 1 energy labels
• Our staff cleans the air filters of all air-conditioners and ionizing air purifiers every week. We hire specialist to clean and check them at least twice a year to avoid excess electricity consumption and maintain room temperatures at 24-25°C
• We take advantage of the rooftop to reduce electricity consumption for drying towels, which is hygienic and energy saving. We also take several measures to minimize water and energy consumption, such as washing after accumulating a certain number of towels and sorting towels by washing time required. With the above measures, we reduce electricity costs by 15-20%. In terms of carbon emission, the energy needed for washing 25 towels would be 500 kWh, equivalent to 0.5kg of carbon dioxide emitted into atmosphere
• We check the electric water heater regularly, at least twice a year. We make adjustments corresponding to changes in the weather, which can effectively save electricity. We also remind employees to save water and regularly inspect pipes to prevent water leakage
• We partition our shop space into niche areas for lighting system, air conditioning system and computer system and turn them off when unneeded. In addition, they are equipped with a switch or an automatic switch system that can be adjusted manually depending on seasons or customer flow
2. We implemented a workplace environmental policy
• We encourage employees to use hair dryers with low power consumption, and they must use rechargeable electric hair clippers
• We regularly inspect water and electricity bills and purchase records, in order to better evaluate our policies and management direction
• We conduct overseas research and study on hair styling that requires less hair spray as it contains the harmful substance, VOC. The amount of hair spray consumed has been reduced from 12000ml to less than 1000ml since 2016
• Our management policies not only focus on internal affairs but also other news related to our industry, such as environmental news, policies or regulations. Environmentally friendly products and equipments are purchased within budget. We welcome all products with eco-design and keep in touch with agents and product companies to see how we can more effectively promote environmental protection
• Conduct regular meetings and issue notices to let employees clearly understand how to conserve resources
• We prioritize the use of green and low-carbon hair styling products that are recommended by the “PRESIDIO SLOW FOOD Association” and contain no harmful substance such as phenyl formate and sulfate
The concept of sustainable development applies to relocation to our new shop
(Old address: 1989 to 2017 / New address: 2016 to present)
Apart from the selection of shop location, drying towels and clothing are very important for us to continue sustainable development. We used to hang towels at the rooftop, yet, we have added ropes for hanging towels at the back stairs light well that exposes to sunlight. Aside from being environmentally friendly, it is safe and efficient.
1. Additionally, to save water, we will sort towels by type to wash; when cutting or hair coloring, we will wrap a paper towel around the neck to reduce the usage of towels and clothes and minimize sewage outflow
2. When designing the new store, we consulted various professionals and conducted plenty of research. It was decided that about 20% of the area in the new store would be allocated to create a multi-purpose function room, Creator Cubby (accommodates 8 to 10 people)
3. Creator Cubby is not only a multi-purpose function room that reduces operation cost and increases efficiency. It is a manifestation that embraces the concept of sustainable development. The design has adopted large angled glass windows to reduce electricity consumption for lighting. The power can also be turned off completely when not in use
4. In addition to pushing for sustainable development, Creator Cubby has a stable income and expenditure. It can function as a training workshop (fee/nominal fee/no fee), a meeting room, a breastfeeding room, a fitness room for staff members, and even a VIP room for hairdressing. In other words, it is a room that does not require electricity and air-conditioning when not in use. Compared with traditional hair salons, the overall utilization rate can make lower electricity usage and have carbon emission reduced by 20% or more
5. Guideline notice of 5S practice is being displayed in the staff room as a constant reminder to practice sustainable development.
Sources：
https://www.foe.org.hk/BlogDetail.aspx?md=20000&mid=20000&cid=207&id=1825
