Sustainability is extremely important for Emmie Lindblad, a 24-year-old beauty therapist from Sweden who believes that that individual small changes can have a noticeable impact into the environment if done collectively.

In high school, Emmie was set to study economics until a facial treatment at a salon made her change paths. For her, beauty therapy is not just about beauty on the outside. “As a beauty therapist,” she says, “you can help others feel better about themselves and offer them time for relaxation.”

At Gilda International Beauty School, where she studied, she was taught environmentally friendly practices and efficient use of materials.

“Teachers taught us to never use more product than we need for a treatment, and we always had a specific amount of, for example, cotton pads for every certain treatment. We learned about the importance of reducing our waste,” she says.

For a salon, it’s crucial to use disposable materials to keep the place clean and sterile. “But we learned that if you can replace some of these with re-usable material and tools, then you should. And our number one rule was to never prepare our workplaces with too much paper, pads, or whatever we had to use,” says Emmie.

Awareness on the impact of individual changes creating a more sustainable future, earned Emmie a Beauty Therapy Sustainability Award at WorldSkills Kazan 2019.

At her current job, she has gone a step forward to implement green initiatives.

“My co-workers and I have decided to sell only one or two brands to the customer and in treatments. So, when we need new products, we can make one bulk order,” says Emmie.

“We try to plan our orders to avoid small deliveries, that cost us money and are damaging to the climate. We also try to make sure to not throw any products away by planning treatments and taking a look at what remaining stocks we have on hand each month.”

Communication and the opportunity of meeting new people every day is one of the things she enjoys the most of her trade. Emmie believes that her knowledge and skill can have an impact on others’ views on climate change and about the importance of acting “right now”.

“We are the future. This planet is for our children, grandchildren and it is our responsibility to keep it alive.”

Related stories