What Hotels Do With The Used Bars of Soap After Guests Check Out

Did you ever stop to wonder what happens to those half-used soaps you leave in hotels? Sadly, a lot of them go to waste every day. It’s a shame these quality soaps, most of them made with the finest ingredients, get thrown out. But it’s a bigger shame that those who badly need these soaps are unable to access them.

Fortunately, there’s a group that’s been working tirelessly to stop this waste and change the world for the better. Clean the World, founded in 2009 by Shawn Seipler, recycles used soap and distributes them to homeless shelters and developing countries where death rates due to acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease are high.

Used hotel soaps are recycled and distributed by the nonprofit organization.

In a video feature, founder Shawn Seipler says:

“As I sat in another hotel room, I asked myself a question: ‘What happens to that soap and shampoo when I’m done using it?’ We went to hotels and explained we have a unique recycling program, one that takes partially used soaps and bottled amenities, sterilizes and recycles them. However, it doesn’t stop there. This recycling program has a life at the end of it. And right here in our local communities, our underprivileged and homeless do not have access to the basic hygiene items that can keep them healthy.”

Their efforts help prevent hygiene-related illnesses and death in poor communities.

According to the Clean the World website:

“Diarrheal diseases kill approximately 1.8 million people per year. Globally, approximately 2.5 billion cases of diarrhea occur among children under 5 years old every year. About 80 percent of those cases are in Africa and South Asia.”

Clean the World has many hospitality partners that donate used soaps and bottled amenities.

The nonprofit partners with hotel companies, corporations outside the hospitality industry, trade groups, service organizations, and individuals to make their programs a success. They collect, sort, and process used soaps and other bottled amenities from their hospitality partners. Donations come from different areas including Orlando, Florida, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong.

Volunteers go to different sites to distribute the recycled products.

Volunteers help distribute the recycled items to those who need them the most. The soaps and other hygiene products are given away at homeless shelters and poor communities where the residents, especially the children, are at high risk of developing hygiene-related illnesses.

Communities are also educated about proper hygiene.

Aside from making soaps and other hygiene products accessible to their target communities, the nonprofit also ensures a more holistic approach.

Volunteers teach residents proper hand-washing, and livelihood opportunities are presented to communities through microloans that budding soapmakers and sellers can take advantage of.

Clean the World prevents waste and helps underprivileged communities.

What do you think of Clean the World’s efforts?