Time for a haircut?
If you can stave it off until Sunday (Aug. 4), you can get a cut from noted Vancouver master stylist Champ Waterhouse at the Spirit of the Sea Festival – and help protect endangered old-growth forests in B.C. in the bargain.
'Haircuts – Not Clearcuts' will be the theme of a special booth on White Rock's East Beach; the latest event organized by Crescent Beach's arts, environment and community-friendly Seventh Heaven Bio Salon.
Owner Chloe Scarf said it's a chance to make an environmental statement and be introduced to the the latest member of her team, the cowboy-hat-wearing, six-shooter blow-dryer-wielding Waterhouse.
Half the proceeds of the regularly-priced cuts will be donated to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), an environmental non-profit working not only to protect old-growth forests but to ensure sustainable forestry in the province.
Scarf said it will the salon's second consecutive year participating in the festival's celebratory atmosphere, while also helping people learn something about protecting old-growth forests. The AFA's Hannah Carpendale will also be on site to hand out information and answer questions, she added.
Extra entertainment value will be added by Waterhouse's sense of style and fun, she said.
"Champ's a really, really skilled haircutter," she commented, noting that he joined forces with Seventh Heaven about a month ago, a serendipitous alignment that coincided with Waterhouse's desire for a change of pace following years of working at high-end Vancouver salons.
"We worked together for years on Commercial Drive," she said. "It's very hard to find his calibre of stylist."
Scarf said the pseudo-cowboy outfit was Waterhouse's own idea, shortly after he came on board at Seventh Heaven.
"Don't ask me where he got the 1800s pistol blow dryer from," she said, laughing. "He's a true creative and a technician – and he's really a character."
"I'm totally excited about Haircuts Not Clearcuts," Waterhouse said. "I've done lots of things like this in the past for different causes."
He said he has been enjoying getting to know the White Rock and South Surrey clientele over the last month.
"It's totally different from working in Vancouver – much more laid back," he said.
Although 'Haircuts Not Clearcuts' makes an eye-catching hook, Carpendale said the organization is about more than fighting clearcuts in endangered old-growth forests, such as those on Vancouver Island, in the southwest mainland and in the southern interior.
"There is so little old-growth left at this point in some areas that any commercial practice of logging endangered old-growth (whether clearcut or other) will have a huge ecological impact...protecting (the forests) could also include restrictions on other logging practices than just clearcuts," she said.
The organization is also working to ensure that second-growth forests are logged at a sustainable rate, she said.