Innovation

Tres Chic Salon recycles the hair clipping waste collected from their clients and sends it to be processed into mats to absorb oil spills at sea. Described by co-owner, Robin Chuk, this innovative idea emerged when “we saw an advertisement after the BP oil spill in 2010. [We] wanted to help make a difference.” The co-owners of the salon partnered with Matter of Trust, a non-profit organization which spearheaded the initiative.

Inspiration

The idea for entering into this unique partnership blossomed when Chuk saw an advertisement for Matter of Trust. “We had been looking for a way to give back, and this seemed to be a perfect idea.” The driving motivation for this innovation was to provide a societal benefit with a minimal negative impact on their own business. Partnering with Matter of Trust to recycle hair clippings into absorbent mats for use in cleaning oil spills was a natural fit.

Overall impact

While not their original intent, the partnership between Tres Chic Salon and Matter of Trust sparked considerable local interest. Chuk described that “after we entered into the partnership, we began to get more calls from people wanting to schedule appointments with our business. Customers learned what we were doing, and they were interested.”

The absorbent hair mats save clean-up teams from deploying considerable resources that could otherwise be diverted to other high-priority initiatives. The winner in this partnership is the underwater environment. The effort helps to revert the shoreline and ocean surface habitat to a more pristine and natural state, thereby encouraging native bird and aquatic species to flourish in affected oil-spill regions.

Business benefit

While not deriving a significant personal financial benefit from the partnership, the co-owners of Tre Chic Salon wanted to initiate a societal benefit beyond their efforts in the local community. Through this partnership, Chuk explained that “It made us feel like we were giving back. It was [something impactful that] we could do."

Social and environmental benefit

The environment benefits from this innovative partnership, because the recycled absorbent hair mats help save birds and underwater creatures affected by the negative impact of oil spills. Without collaborative efforts like those spearheaded by Matter of Trust, accidental oil spills could be potentially even more devastating on the aquatic ecosystem. Society benefits through the time, money, and resources saved from reducing manual cleanup efforts.

Interview

Robin Chuk, Co-Owner