Massage Therapy Journal Spring 2025

Spring 2025 • 73

process offers a productive avenue for small businesses to purposefully engage with the planned and emergent dimensions of action in support of transformative change.” Sustainability is truly an effort that depends on both collective and individual action. So, what can massage therapists who own small businesses do? The key is understanding that even small efforts can make a big difference. “By adopting simple daily practices, massage therapists can easily enhance their practice’s sustainability,” says Woolford. “Be open to learning and training your staff on new environmentally friendly strategies and techniques. Use client communication material within your spa and practice, and share your eco-friendly practices on your website or social to spread the word.” In other words, build sustainability strategies into your daily schedule and share those strategies with both your employees and clients. What Should Massage Therapists Look for When Purchasing One aspect of sustainability that can quickly turn into a head-spinning endeavor is purchasing products that are both sustainable and responsibly sourced. Fortunately, there are some quick ways for massage therapists to ensure the products they are buying meet the sustainability standards they’ve set for themselves and their practice. A company’s website is usually a great place to start. Often, companies will have online space dedicated to sharing their sustainability goals, practices and ongoing efforts. In this space, visitors will often find names of any sustainability partners the company works with, seals they have been awarded (see Quick Guide to Sustainability Seals on page 72), as well as other relevant sustainable practice information the company wants to share with consumers. “Your suppliers will be your scope 3 emissions. We know not all will be able to share data and

progress with you, but encourage them to get there over time because this should not be optional,” Umber encourages. “Select suppliers, when you can, that are making progress and can substantiate it for you.” There are also certain things to look for that are product-specific. For example, when buying a massage table or chair, consider finding out where any wood used in manufacturing is sourced. “Look for massage tables made from wood certified by organizations like Forest Stewardship Council,” Mazzola says. “This ensures the wood comes from responsibly managed forests.” Sanitation products, on the other hand, have a different set of benchmarks. “Massage therapists should ensure that their chosen disinfectant is sustainable and well suited for the task at hand,” Woolford explains, including realistic contact times, ease of use and a favorable safety profile. Low contact times and ease of use are important because they signal less product is required for results. Think of it this way: A cleaning product with a contact time of 10 minutes is going to require multiple re-applications, meaning more product will be needed to maintain results. Similarly, ease of use is important because some products require a pre-clean step that will double the amount of chemical used, resulting in unnecessary environmental impact in comparison to one-step products, according to Woolford. A key to remember is that becoming more sustainable doesn’t happen overnight and is instead a continual process. “Most companies in our space are at the beginning of their ESG journey, many have not started yet but are contemplating how best to begin. No one business yet has all of the bases covered to perfection,” says Umber. “However, a good place to start would be to seek partners who acknowledge the challenge, and have a positive documented position on how they intend to live up to their responsibility, which is lived in the company’s day-to-day actions.”

“By adopting simple daily practices, massage therapists can easily enhance

their practice’s sustainability.” — Dan Woolford, senior director, sales and marketing, Virox Technologies

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References 1. Luederitz, C, Caniglia G, Colbert B, & Burch S. “How do small businesses pursue sustainability? The role of collective agency for integrating planned and emergent strategy making.” Business Strategy and the Environment. 2021.

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