March  31st.  2011
Permalink
Spa is the ideal business for the green initiative, and if you still just dabbling or thinking of taking the leap, now is the perfect time. April is Earth Month and the perfect platform to launch  your spas earthly efforts. Try some of these ideas….they work! Start with listing what your business does under the realm of sustainability. List what you serve - spa services and spa retail that is green, organic, natural and perfect for  the end results of wellness and beauty for the individual and the earth.   Get the staff involved and present a plan to get tighter and more responsible with recycling. Ask them “How can we show our earth friendly practices”? They will bring up the things you haven’t thought of. Separate your services and retail products and design a display with a Counter Sign to talk about what your serving and create a specials, your clients can jump into! Create a survey for the clients in a game project, with winners at the end of the month. This will create an editorial buzz you can send to editors in you community. Now, lets take this to the next step of EARTH FRIENDLY and the understanding why spa is the perfect business for sustainability and natural wellness. Spa has been a large contributor to waste and overhead loss with unnecessary disposables, toxic products and non refillable packaging including using styrofoam cups, plates etc. Compared to when I started in spa, we have become throw-away users consumers with unnecessary profit losses. Here are some simple ways to change your habits and get serious about your environment. Replace all disposable service tools to stainless kitchen tools were you can, like measuring spoons, cups, bowls, trays and containers. Stainless is washable and can take a spray of any disinfectant, as log as you follow the direction. It lasts forever and is clean and shinny looking! Replace cardboard containers with glass and recycle the paper and plastic. Your spa will look pristine  and you can buy in generic bulk and forget the fancy packaging. Replace all paper and styrofoam cups, glasses and dinnerware to glass, ceramic and stainless. Yes spa does dishes, its all about comfort and quality! Replace all water bottles with glass pitchers of ice water with any fruit or veggies you like and have lots of glasses available…yes do dishes or invest in a dish washer! Stop serving bottled water! Replace and recycle plastic garbage cans with tall baskets or stainless containers and use green environmental garbage bags. Review your business community’s recycling program, tag your receptacles in the spa departments for the exact items ( like Paper Only etc.). Guess what, if you get rid of all the disposable items you can, there is less garbage.Except for the staff break room there you can do up to 5 kinds of garbage receptacles…paper, plastic, cans, paper and hazardous materials (see what shows up in this bin). Ask your vendors for help by offering bulk where you need it in product refills and if they can’t help, then maybe you need to change what you serve to find the manufacturers that emanate your efforts to health , wellness and  green profitability! The biggest part of all this is changing our habits and managing with consistency… just think of the results. Plus staff becomes more efficiently involved with the spa environment and have less unproductive time in the staff room. be the leader and get the most action! Here’s to April, it’s never too late to start being greener and making it shine!                        Bonnie Canavino, President of the Red Cherry Group has been a green and organic supporter her entire life, starting with her family re-planting thousands of trees from strip land logging for pulp and restocking fish in fresh water lakes from over fishing and pollutants. Her father was a great naturalist and his work carries through her. She has consulted for spas on business and culture since 1982. Want to ask her a question email her at info@redcherrygroup.com

Spa is the ideal business for the green initiative, and if you still just dabbling or thinking of taking the leap, now is the perfect time. April is Earth Month and the perfect platform to launch  your spas earthly efforts.

Try some of these ideas….they work!

  • Start with listing what your business does under the realm of sustainability. List what you serve - spa services and spa retail that is green, organic, natural and perfect for  the end results of wellness and beauty for the individual and the earth.  
  • Get the staff involved and present a plan to get tighter and more responsible with recycling. Ask them “How can we show our earth friendly practices”? They will bring up the things you haven’t thought of.
  • Separate your services and retail products and design a display with a Counter Sign to talk about what your serving and create a specials, your clients can jump into!
  • Create a survey for the clients in a game project, with winners at the end of the month. This will create an editorial buzz you can send to editors in you community.

Now, lets take this to the next step of EARTH FRIENDLY and the understanding why spa is the perfect business for sustainability and natural wellness. Spa has been a large contributor to waste and overhead loss with unnecessary disposables, toxic products and non refillable packaging including using styrofoam cups, plates etc. Compared to when I started in spa, we have become throw-away users consumers with unnecessary profit losses.

Here are some simple ways to change your habits and get serious about your environment.

  • Replace all disposable service tools to stainless kitchen tools were you can, like measuring spoons, cups, bowls, trays and containers. Stainless is washable and can take a spray of any disinfectant, as log as you follow the direction. It lasts forever and is clean and shinny looking!
  • Replace cardboard containers with glass and recycle the paper and plastic. Your spa will look pristine  and you can buy in generic bulk and forget the fancy packaging.
  • Replace all paper and styrofoam cups, glasses and dinnerware to glass, ceramic and stainless. Yes spa does dishes, its all about comfort and quality!
  • Replace all water bottles with glass pitchers of ice water with any fruit or veggies you like and have lots of glasses available…yes do dishes or invest in a dish washer! Stop serving bottled water!
  • Replace and recycle plastic garbage cans with tall baskets or stainless containers and use green environmental garbage bags.
  • Review your business community’s recycling program, tag your receptacles in the spa departments for the exact items ( like Paper Only etc.). Guess what, if you get rid of all the disposable items you can, there is less garbage.Except for the staff break room there you can do up to 5 kinds of garbage receptacles…paper, plastic, cans, paper and hazardous materials (see what shows up in this bin).
  • Ask your vendors for help by offering bulk where you need it in product refills and if they can’t help, then maybe you need to change what you serve to find the manufacturers that emanate your efforts to health , wellness and  green profitability!

The biggest part of all this is changing our habits and managing with consistency… just think of the results. Plus staff becomes more efficiently involved with the spa environment and have less unproductive time in the staff room. be the leader and get the most action!

Here’s to April, it’s never too late to start being greener and making it shine!

                      

Bonnie Canavino, President of the Red Cherry Group has been a green and organic supporter her entire life, starting with her family re-planting thousands of trees from strip land logging for pulp and restocking fish in fresh water lakes from over fishing and pollutants. Her father was a great naturalist and his work carries through her. She has consulted for spas on business and culture since 1982. Want to ask her a question email her at info@redcherrygroup.com