Are hair ties eco-friendly?

Are hair ties bad for the environment?

Where do hair ties even end up after they’ve been used?

Keeping your hair up is almost a necessity - especially if you have long hair and are always participating in physical activity recreationally or during work. 

You’re probably thinking, “what other options do I have? No way am I cutting my hair”. For the first time in hundreds of years, hair accessories are evolving to fit our needs and Hairstrong is one of the drivers in this change. 

The discussion of whether or not hair ties are eco-friendly can be summed down into 3 parts: What are the made of? How long do they last? How often do they get thrown out?

What are they made of?

Most of the hair ties are made out of synthetic materials - both the rubber and cotton. Which makes it hard to break down - approximately 500 years to be exact(1).

Naturally, synthetic rubber tends to stretch and after a while, it’s quite hard to get it to its original shape. Which means that after using it time and time again - it won’t work as well as the first day you got it. 

But, just because you change the materials - does it mean the work better? Maybe not. 

One of our main priorities is that the Strongband outlasts any other hair accessory, but not only in the length of the time which you can use it, but the quality of each use. Which is why we use durable cord and stretchy fabric to ensure that the Strongband lasts - for what feels like forever.

How long do they last?

Conventional hair ties aren’t designed to last - why do you think they come in packs of 20? Hair ties are looked at as a quick easy sell - but how long do they really last? Let us tell you, they last longer in the dumps than they do on your wrist. 

We’ve tackled this problem with an adjustable clasp. No matter how many times you use the elastic, you’re able to continuously tighten and change the size to fit you. No need to worry about if this is the time that the elastic snaps, or that the elastic is too loose to loop around your hair.

How often do they get thrown out?

Hair ties have a certain life expectancy because of the natural stretchiness of the rubber and the quality of the cotton used. Think about how often you rebuy those elastics you get from the drug store or Amazon - can you pinpoint where each elastic is from that pack? When you throw away one elastic, it may not seem like much, but multiply that by 550 million and you’d get all of the hair ties purchased each year in the United States alone (1).  

With the combination of hair ties breaking or getting lost you can see how they don’t actually last that long. So why keep rebuying the same old hair ties that don’t last long or break?

We’ve created an adjustable Strongband that gets the most use each time you wear it. You won’t want to, or even have to throw it out. We’ve created them to last even the toughest workout, time and time again.

So what do you think?

We can’t tell you what to do. All we can do is give you the facts to help make better purchasing decisions. 

Yes, there are better hair tie alternatives that are made with biodegradable materials such as the article we’ve cited in this blog (link is at the bottom). 

The Strongband alone can replace a whole pack of hair ties. Essentially giving you less hair ties to throw away and saving your budget in the long run. The Strongband not only lasts longer but better, too.

If you liked this then check out "10 reasons why you should ditch those generic hair ties". 

1. How Big a Problem Are Synthetic Hair Ties

Last edited: February 11th, 2021