Karine Jackson has closed her Covent Garden salon after 20 years to focus on a new adventure, the launch of her sustainability consultancy for the hair and beauty industry.
Coming from Australia, who were way ahead when it came to sustainability and water conservation, Karine was one of the first UK salons to use organic, ammonia free colour after a client with cancer asked her to research what was available. This was just the start of her sustainability journey – she subsequently became the first London salon to go single use plastic free, established a long-term relationship with sustainability campaigner and journalist and author of Turning The Tide On Plastic, Lucy Siegle, works closely with Green Salon Collective and reduced waste by 50% in her role as Sustainability Curator at this year’s Colour World.
Karine says,
“With all the difficulties faced by London salon owners post covid and in the current financial climate, I made the decision not to renew my lease to allow me time to focus on my passion – a new sustainability project working as a consultant for salons and companies within the hair industry to help them hit the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals reducing climate change globally. My learnings over the past 20 years have made me more determined to help our industry, which is a huge consumer of energy and producer of waste, to reduce our environmental impact. When I first did a plastic audit at my salon I was astonished by how much extra waste accumulated. I wrote to Who Gives A Crap about the plastic insert in their tissue boxes which they subsequently removed; I bought my team reusable coffee cups and water bottles and banned single use containers at the salon. I introduced vegan services and switched to services like Vish to measure colour, winning the Vish Waste Warrior Awards for 3 consecutive years. I can quickly see where businesses need to implement new policies and make changes to become substantially more sustainable and I’m looking forward to working with salons, brands, events and more for this new project.”
Karine, who has sat on many panels and podcasts on the topic, will stlll be working creatively with hair as a freelancer, giving her the flexibility to see clients and work on Fashion Week alongside her sustainability consultancy.
July is Plastic Free month, and Karine is available to share her tips for the hair and beauty industry – find her on Instagram at @karinemjacksonhair
