Study shows that hair grows great plants
A new experiment carried out by Green Salon Collective (GSC) between April 2022 and February 2023 found that hair clippings make for healthier and faster-growing plant cuttings.
Founded in the summer of 2020 by environmental experts, hairdressers and eco campaigners, GSC is an Ireland and UK initiative that facilitates salon sustainability by recycling the unrecyclable, such as hair, used foil and colour tubes, chemicals, and plastics. Its goal is to be able to collect as close to 100% of all salon waste as physically possible, and to then find new uses for it that reward the salon, the environment and the community.
The GSC study used 16 Monstera plants, measuring four different levels of ‘hairyness’, with comparable soil types over a period of 308 days, to assess the plant across all seasons, as well as to allow enough time for the hair to release nitrogen and influence the plant’s growth.
The care conditions received by all plants were identical apart from the hair/no hair placement in the pots, even down to the same amount of water per plant.
The experiment found that hair clippings make for healthier and faster-growing plant cuttings. According to GSC, the findings clearly demonstrate a direct link to hair cuttings and a boost in plant health, which is shown in detailed evidence captured on camera and transposed into graphs.
“The important point here is that in a circular process we are always looking for ways to make new things from waste, and this is an exciting one,” said Fry Taylor, co-founder, GSC. “We love that hair that is no longer useful to its owner finds a new way to grow!
“The experiment shows that hair is good for plant care, it improves growth, helps with water retention when watering and impacts plant health in a positive way. It also puts to very good use a waste product from the salon and yurns it into positive growth in a very real way.”
GSC noted that this initiative has added to the ways that it can recycle hair waste from salons, and it can be done with clients to boost client interest in sustainability within salons.
