Essay by Eric Worrall
First published JoNova; “… an intervention was conducted with 25 salons using eco-tips on mirrors to prompt sustainable hair care conversations (Mirror Talkers) …”
MARCH 3, 2026
Hairdressers could be a secret weapon in tackling climate change, new research findsby University of Bath
edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew ZininHairdressers across the UK are emerging as powerful, under-recognized influencers in tackling climate change, according to new research from academics at the University of Bath’s Center for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST), and the Universities of Cardiff, Oxford and Southampton.
The study, published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, reveals that hair salons are hubs of trust, community and conversation where climate action can take root and spread.
The research shows that hairdressers can be influential in everyday conversations with clients about climate and sustainability and are successfully prompting people to rethink their sustainability habits—ranging from their use of water and energy to their choice of bank or diet.
Dr. Sam Hampton from CAST said, “Hairdressers build trust over months and years. That kind of relationship is gold when it comes to discussing climate change. We found salons to be unique spaces where clients feel safe, relaxed, and open to new ideas.”
Read more: https://phys.org/news/2026-03-hairdressers-secret-weapon-tackling-climate.html
…
The abstract of the study;
Public engagement and climate change: exploring the role of hairdressers as everyday influencers
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications , Article number: (2026) Cite this article
We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.
Abstract
Public engagement has a key role in the social transformations needed to address climate change, one form of which is climate conversations. This research focuses on a widespread and conversational space – hair salons. It engaged with sustainable salons across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland to explore these conversations in two studies. Thirty salon owners/directors were interviewed about hairdressers’ engagement with clients about climate change and sustainability (GoZero), and an intervention was conducted with 25 salons using eco-tips on mirrors to prompt sustainable hair care conversations (Mirror Talkers). The results show that hairdressers already have a strong understanding of public engagement, are able to ‘read’ clients and maintain trusting relationships. Climate and sustainability conversations are happening in sustainable salons and impacting clients’ mindset and behaviour, with the intervention viewed positively. This paper argues that hairdressers are a prime example of ‘everyday influencers’ on climate change, but their potential has not been fully realised.
Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-026-06781-4
Good to see Britain’s tax money hard at work. The study notes that raw data will not be released due to privacy concerns, but they recommend followup studies to determine whether the mirror talkers and other engagement methods had a lasting impact on people’s climate views.
I don’t know about you, but someone waving a sharp piece of steel next to my face doesn’t make me feel more open to say buying an electric vehicle. My focus is more on hoping the slight hand tremor I just noticed won’t lead to me receiving a nasty cut.
But, I heard “Turkish” barbers constitute crime hubs.
The climates whores are already fully on board.
To get a barber license in Wisconsin, you must be at least 18, have a high school diploma/equivalent, and complete a 1,000-hour board-approved training program
or a 2,000-hour apprenticeship. Applicants must pass a state board examination.
Key Requirements and Steps
Education: Complete a 1,000-hour barbering course.
Proficiency in Climate Crisis theory & application
(/sarc)
Only in the birthplace of despicable anti-Americanism (Wisconsin) would those be the requirements.
California is 1500 hours, last I heard. Some states want 2000 hours. The justification is the public health angle. I can’t imagine it would take more than a few minutes to study a few pictures of ringworm, head lice, and other calamities. Six months, a full year of full 8-hour-a-day school? Fuuuuuck that noise.
Yeah, I wonder how many hairdressers have just one day gone –
” I never wanted to do this in the first place.
I always wanted to be –
A LUMBERJACK!!”
“I wish I’d been a girlie,
Just like my dear papa!”
But you are OK!
Hairdressers should be harder than barbers. Permanents, dye jobs, dreadlocks, etc.
Mom used to do all of that in the basement for the neighborhood ladies. Don’t recall any license.–Well no dredlocks that I can recall, but cuts, perms and coloring yes.
Payment plans
The harder it is for new people to enter a market, the more the existing practitioners can charge for their services.
90% of these requirements are nothing more than income protection for those who are already in the field.
I can’t picture Floyd from The Andy Griffith Show going along with it.
Mayberry would never be the same.
Sigh. They aren’t giving up yet but just digging the hole deeper.
The blind leading the blind. That will certainly turn out well. /s
I imagine that the blind will not qualify no matter how many hours… or, will the “touchy, feely” ones qualify?
Typical nonsense from the deluded.
People talk to bartenders – maybe they can be recruited, too?
I’d say this advice is worth about six bits.
Well say goodbye to a few good braincells reading that.
We are all dumber for having read it.
I was going to say, this can’t be a serious article.
I was going to say that, but I couldn’t remember how.
Are they going to pay barbers to spread climate change propaganda?
What about skeptic barbers?
The skeptic barbers will receive a haircut in pay and placed on leave without pay.
“Scientists say climate change causing more bad hair days.” Stay tuned.
Figaro! Hey Figaro! Por que no te callas?
The Barber of Seville?
Jo Nova has a hilarious take on this absurdity.
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/03/hairdressers-could-be-a-secret-weapon-in-tackling-climate-change-new-research-finds/
Floyd’s Barber Shop and Climate Center in Mayberry. That’s the ticket!
Memory fade – the name of the barber on Hee Haw? (Played by Archie Campbell) So I checked – Wikipedia – his own name. No wonder I couldn’t remember another name. Darn I miss that show.
Presenting…
The climate change barbershop quartet.
4-part disharmony! Screech, buzz, yap, blather.
Shh … don’t give them ideas. That will be the next “study.”
🎶 I wanna climate
Just like the climate
That killed off dear, old Dad
He froze to death
It was a big mess
We buried him in frozen sod
Now it’s too warm
To do us any harm
Our kids won’t know what snow is
I wanna climate
Just like the climate
That killed off dear, old Daaaad🎶💈
You can’t even talk about the weather with your hairdresser anymore… I mean — soon we won’t be able to get a haircut without hearing about the climate apocalypse for three quarters of an hour.
I almost feel like launching a global movement in favor of dreadlocks (the old-school, no-maintenance kind), I’m so appalled at the idea of paying someone to lecture us with eco-nonsense while giving us a trim.
It’s in the budgets of certain universities that some “cuts” should really be made.
Not quite a complete buzz cut for the dollar wig — but close.
Brain washing.
To the simple mind, washing the hair is as close as you can get to washing the brain.
Geoff S
“Almost 73% of salon clients said they were likely to change their haircare routine after conversations prompted by the Mirror Talkers.”
Almost 73%: the new 97%.
I would change my hair care routine. I would get a new hairdresser.
That’s why the preferred regulatory route would be a mandatory add on fee at all licensed shops.
I think I’d stop right in the middle of the haircut and walk out, unpaid.
Most of those clients are women…
WOW! You KNOW they’ve lost the debate and all sense of reality if they need to engage hair dressers as ‘influencers’ on ANY given topic. I might engage my hair dresser in conversation to pass the time but the moment they try to raise something like “you know we need to act sustainably, have you thought of moving your bank branch to be closer to you so you don’t waste energy?” is the moment I NEVER go back.
Absolute waste of money and its all about trying to control people to push them to the outcome they desire, an absolute load of horse doo-doo.
Since genetics decided my hair would be very thin on top, I took to shaving my head once a week (can’t stand the Friar Tuck, or Michael Mann look). haven’t been to a barber in about 20 years.
My wife won’t let me go that route, she likes running her fingers through what little is left.
My wife prefers me bald. Go figure.
My little brother once asked me why I still had a full head of hair, so I replied “healthy living and a clean conscience”. He didn’t believe me.
Is manmade climate real or fake? Only your hairdresser knows for sure.
Really? Someone got paid for this research?
BTW, I actually changed my hairdresser a few years ago because I got tired of being subjected to her uninformed political opinions.
Right. Never argue with someone holding a sharp instrument. (I almost qualified for a Darwin once when I got into a shouting match with someone holding a running chainsaw.)
Do we file this one with climate psychology or climate communications majors? It might depend on the costly certification course levels involved.
“University of Bath undergraduate tuition fees for 2026 entry are generally £9,790 per year for UK students, with higher rates for international students.”
“The University of Bath is a highly selective institution with an overall undergraduate offer rate of approximately 62-65% (based on 2024/2025 data),.. The university receives over 38,000 applications”
9790*0.62*38,000 = £230,652,400 in tuition revenue for first year students only.
(Insert snarky comment here)
Is there also a suggested tip percentage or is it a mandatory add on to the bill?
Can we all opt out of the “special relationship” with the UK? It may be too far gone to help.
“Social Sciences”. There’s an oxymoron.
Sounds like the beauty salons in the President’s Analyst with James Coburn
Or “The Man Who Wasn’t There”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243133/
“social transformations needed to address climate change”
is a phrase that jumped off the page.