Verde Girls Give Back! By Sophia Abi-Kheirs

How often do you think about giving back or paying it forward? It seems the only time we're really reminded to think about this is during the Christmas season. A very special friend of mine left me with a simple reminder: pay it forward everyday. It’s very simple. It’s as simple as holding the door for someone, leaving a couple dollars for the next person in the drive through, walking a dog at a local shelter, washing the dishes, helping a neighbor with yard work, or just simply smiling at someone. This is something the Verde team and I really take to heart, and I will challenge you to do the same. 

During the month of April, at Verde Salon, we celebrate Earth Month. As I’m sure most of you know, Verde ladies love saving the Earth!This is a great time to shine a light on the small changes everyone can make to make a big difference. I am so fortunate to be part of a business that loves to support other local businesses, partners with responsible and sustainable companies, and tries everyday to make their surroundings better than they found it. 

KEVIN.MURPHY, our favorite and carried hair care line, does an amazing job of giving back. KEVIN.MURPHY is a partner in the Climate Reality Project, an organization that raises money, heightens awareness, and does their best to combat the effects of climate change. Climate change is a huge problem right now. Carbon pollution is warming our planet and in turn, is creating crazy weather patterns like drought, flooding, wildfires, and superstorms. We need to create a sustainable and prosperous future we can all live in. That is why, in honor of Earth Day, Kevin Murphy will make a donation to the Al Gore Climate Reality Project for every aerosol-can purchase. KEVIN.MUPHY also works with other amazing organizations who are giving back in a huge way such as Peta, Green.Salon, Culture is Life, and Green Circle Salon. Partnering with KEVIN.MURPHY is another way in which we are giving back. 

This year Verde proudly became a Green Circle Salon member. This amazing company allows us to recycle all the items that would normally end up in a land fill, such as hair clippings, color tubes, used color foil, aerosol cans, and excess color and bleach. Green Circle Salons takes all this waste and turns it into clean water, clean energy, and hair booms used to naturally clean oil spills. Talk about giving back! They are literally turning this waste into amazing environmental contributions. 

Can you imagine life without water? In the past, Verde has raised money for Global Water, a company that helps provide water for under privileged villages. While most of us living in the United States don’t have to worry about water scarcity, there are many places in the world where water is not readily available. These fundraisers were an excellent eye opener to really take notice to how difficult even the most basic needs can be for some less fortunate. Thanks to everyone's donations we were able to help a community raise money to provide water. Sometimes paying it forward is contributing to someone who could never pay it back. 

I knew Verde was going to stand behind their mission of giving back when my first month of being on the floor, Verde let me donate all of my haircut costs to the Wounded Warrior Project. I’m sure we all know someone that is a part of the military and who has sacrificed a lot for our freedom. These donations were very special to me, so thank you to all of those who donated, you all helped me pay it back to those who sacrifice everyday! 

Paying it forward isn’t all about donating money or who has the most money to give away, its about helping each other. One thing I love about Verde is that we love supporting local businesses. Supporting small, responsible businesses makes a huge difference. We get our water from Simpson Spring in Easton, MA. Simpson Spring is the oldest independent bottling plant in the US. They are small, family owned, and provide the best quality water and hand crafted sodas. They also carry awesome local products in their store such as Ruuska Pickles from Plymouth and Chica De Gayo artisan salsa and guacamole from Jamaica Plain . I think its important for us to be supporting local business. You would be surprised by the hidden gems you will find by doing that! I have been inspired to seek out small local companies. This helps the local economy, builds community, and is environmentally sustainable. 

What I want us all to take away from this is that it doesn’t matter how big or how small we give back. It’s about helping each other out. And who doesn't feel great helping out someone in need? It's honestly contagious. It makes them feel good, and you feel great! I choose to follow my passion in hair dressing because I truly love making women and men feel their absolute best inside and out. I think we can all agree that there is no better feeling than knowing you just made someones day a little brighter. The Verde team will continue to find new ways to give back and pay it forward.

This meaningful blog was written by Sophia Abi-Kheirs, one of our passionate stylists.