the fresh perspective...

GREEN CIRCLE SALONS It's official guys!  We are officially a Green Circle Salon as of July first!  I'm very excited to introduce this new initiative to Winnipeg as the first salon (that I know of) that is committed to recycling up to 90% of the waste we produce while hooking you up with your hair dos.

With this program we will be able to recycle almost everything we use that produces some sort of waste.  Be it chemical, hair, paper, plastic, wax and wax strips... It's incredible!  When I opened up this shop 4 years ago I hoped for something like this to aid in lowering my salon's carbon footprint.  Unfortunately this service wasn't available in Manitoba until now!

Check out this video.  You'll be surprised at how much waste is produced by a simple cut and color service.  All the waste being produced by the services we perform will be turned into something else.  Some waste is turned into fuel for machines and others are made into bicycles and play structure for kids.  How does this work you ask?  Let me tell you!

GCS will pick up Freshair Boutique's waste and ship it to its appropriate recycling destination.  This service comes with a small fee.  We will be charging an environmental fee of $1.50 for every service bill.  This surcharge is similar to the fee you get charged at a grocery store when you buy soda in cans, glass, or plastic.  This charge is what allows us to ship the waste away and allows the companies to change the waste into something useful and great!

I know that some of you may have an issue with the surcharge, but I urge you to watch the video and see how great this system is.  Because of clients like you who choose to support local, and who believe in a better place to live for your and your families, a system like this is needed.  GCS has salons all over Canada.  It's largest concentration in the western part of Canada and I'd love for the prairies to take up the cause as well.

I know Winnipeggers aren't always receptive to change but this service is something that I think is important for businesses like mine that add to the environmental decline of our wonderful earth and sometimes our health.  I hope that all of you that patronize us won't be discouraged by our efforts to really help improve our lives and lifestyles.

Please feel free to ask me any questions about this initiative.  I also ask that you do all you can, in any way you can, to try to make our communities and our environment sustainable.  Is a $1.50 to much to ask?  Thanks so much for supporting Freshair Boutique and our commitment:

Choosing our business helps you get on the right track visually, with our beauty services, while consuming less, reusing certain items and recycling.  Our main goal is to put the best you together, while doing the least damage possible to the earth and ourselves.

That's the fresh perspective...

Thanks!

What do you do?

When you're feeling down and out or even just depressed or sad, what do you do?  Do you have a sure-fire cure or way to feel better?  Do you find that when you're feeling low, you have a way to beat it?  What's your go-to strategy, if you have one?  If you don't, how do you find yourself in a better place?  Does it just happen and all of a sudden you're happy, in a good mood, and positive?  I wonder...

Lately I've been having a hard time trying to focus on the positive things in my life.  I feel like the 'bad' just keeps piling up.  The things I usually do to cheer myself up just aren't working like they used to.  Nothing seems to be working like it used to...  I guess that's what 'life' is and that's the point of it.  Time to change.

Well if anyone has any great suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em.  Really.  Feel free because I'm sure things won't be getting better as fast as I'd like them to.

Peace

the fresh perspective...

A DAY FOR MOTHERS Mother's day is tomorrow.  What have you got planned?  You doing something fun your mother?  Are you getting pampered if you're a mother?

I'm a mom, and what I would like for Mother's day is- all my meals prepared for me (from scratch), all the mess associated with said meals cleaned up, the fridge cleaned out, ALL my laundry done, and a foot rub accompanied with a vanilla milk shake as I watch Game of Thrones.  Is that too much to ask?  Am I being a titch ridiculous?  It's my day...it's not like any of what I'm hoping for will actually happen as my children are under 3 feet tall and my husband is, well...the best! ;)

Why do you think we celebrate these days?  It's just like Valentine's or birthdays I guess.  It gives all of us a reason to acknowledge each other.  I mean, we should anyways, but acknowledgment always seems easier when a specific day is set aside for it.

I asked one of my male clients once what he wanted for Father's day and he said,"I just want to be left alone.  Everyone leave the house for 24 hours.  Just leave me by myself to do whatever I want."  I thought, wow, that sucks for him.  He would love peace and quiet and no fan fare, or tie, or lame mug, or 'best dad' anything.  He just wants to be left alone but he'll probably be subjected to doing something he doesn't want to do.

Just like my Mother's day wish, it won't happen and I'm okay with that.  I'll send my mom a card (she likes that).  Well actually I'm not even sure she does like that.  I've never really asked.  That's what I'm going to do.  I'm going to find out what they (mother/father) would really like on that day and try to make it happen.  As long as it doesn't cost a fortune.

That's all I got and that's the fresh perspective...

Believe me.

Easter long weekend is now in the books.  What did you do these past few days?  Did you celebrate Easter?  You go to church with your family like I did, or did you just enjoy the time off work?  Do you in believe in Easter and what it means?  Are you one that has no beliefs? While I was in church yesterday I began thinking about beliefs.  Some people believe in God, others in Buddha, some in science.  Many people believe in nothing at all, and in my opinion, isn't that a belief?  Why do we have to believe?  Why can't we just live and carry on?  Why do we need to have to look to something to make sense of our lives?

Being human is just that.  We need to be able to make sense of the life we lead and use believing to help us.  I guess religions or spirituality of any kind does that.  It helps us focus on something that we can't really understand so we spend time attempting to better our lives in the hopes of attaining 'something'.  If you believe in nothing then the 'attaining' is pointless and you make your life decisions on the now and how you want to live, now.

I'm not saying I have all the answers or that I even know what I'm talking about, but I do know that 30 years ago religion/spirituality was more entwined with our daily lives.  Believing in things seemed to be so much easier then, than now.  I wonder why that is?  It's probably the internet... I blame the internet for many things, but that's for another time, believe me.

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

Spring salads... Is it spring yet?

the fresh perspective...

A CHANGE 'GON COME... We're knee-deep in to 2014 and there's a lot going on this year for Freshair Boutique.  We're looking to do a little expanding and changing the look of our shop from the roota to the toota.  I too am expanding and will be changing my schedule come September, yikes!  For someone who is always 'up for something new', I am feeling a little nervous.  Change is good but also scary...

What makes change so terrifying?  From moving cities, to giving birth.  New hair styles to new jobs.  From renovations to huge financial decisions...  All these types of changes are, in my opinion, an attempt to better our lives in one way or another.  But why does it feel like it's somehow going to end badly?

You what folks? I don't have all the answers.  I'm just here to shed a little light, offer some perspective, and hopefully open your eyes to a different way of looking at things.  I always love to hear people give their opinions because it helps me see things differently and opens my mind to new possibilities.

I wasn't always up for listening to other people's opinions about most things because I always thought that I was right.  Even now, sometimes I have to check myself when I think that my way is the only way and the best way.  I have a lot of ideas about how things should be and how things should go.  I am changing though.  I have to if I want to make the best out of the one life I have been given.  Are you changing?  For the better?  That's the fresh perspective...