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Green is in style
Helping our planet with each hair cut
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The Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce will host its first annual Green Fest on Saturday, May 23, as part of the village's "Go Green" effort.
Co-sponsored by Times Beacon Record Newspapers, the Green Fest will feature eco-friendly vendors and booths, live music and exhibits on going green from noon to 5 pm on East Main Street. Right in the heart of the village, Bliss Salon owners Barbara Voss and Jennifer Cronin will introduce their ammonia-free products and "green" hair extensions. The mother-daughter team explained that they initially became an ammonia-free salon in 2004 to eliminate the toxic fumes for cancer patients who utilized the salon for cranial hair prosthesis, which re-creates natural hair growth patterns.
"We have an eco-friendly approach to the beauty industry," Cronin said, noting that the combination of ammonia and peroxide, an ingredient found in most beauty products, creates a harmful gas. Having worked in the salon industry for over 20 years, Cronin said she has met stylists who began suffering from emphysema after working with these products for long periods of time.
Bliss Salon, which opened in its East Main Street location just a year ago, also offers "green" hair extensions that require no glue or sewing, according to the owners. On Saturday, visitors at Green Fest can come to the salon to try out these green extensions, which will also be green in color.
Voss, who has an engineering background, said every patron who receives a hair cut at Bliss is essentially helping the environment because the salon donates all hair clippings to Matter of Trust, a nonprofit organization that creates hair mats to soak up oil spills. "Everybody who gets a hair cut is giving back to the community," Voss said, adding that she and her daughter have begun encouraging other salons in the area to participate in this effort.
Another vendor participating in the Green Fest is Body Source in Miller Place, which offers nutritional information and discount vitamins and supplements. The products available at Body Source "help keep you healthy and active," according to owner Helen Sagarin, who first opened the business in Dix Hills in 1994. "I found myself interested in health and alternative ways to solve certain health issues," she said, noting that natural products offer ways to "remain productive and energetic without taking prescription drugs."
At Saturday's event, Sagarin said she will provide community members with various pamphlets containing nutritional and health-related material. "I'm 64 years old and I'm still going strong," she said.
To demonstrate her specialty in feng shui design and renovations, Maureen Calamia of Luminous Spaces in St. James will also take part in the first annual Green Fest. A certified feng shui consultant and building biology practitioner, Calamia founded the consulting firm four years ago to help people live a "more healthy and sustainable life." "I felt I needed to work in a way that would help people improve the environment they work in," she said, adding that she provides services for both residential and commercial environments.
Calamia, who previously worked in the marketing industry, said she recently renovated the Arame Salon and Spa in Port Jefferson by using sustainable products such as natural cork flooring, bamboo wall covering and paints that contain no volatile organic compounds, or toxins found in traditional paint. When asked why people should go green, the feng shui consultant replied, "We have to. We don't have a choice. We must be more mindful of our consumption and how we're impacting the earth, in a material way as well as spiritually."
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