Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Recycling Leftover Hotel Soap?

Ever wonder what happens to leftover soap and shampoo at hotels like Sheraton, Westin, Marriott, and Hilton? USA Today (April 26,2011) describes how a non-profit organization called Clean the World recycles used soap for distribution in developing countries and homeless shelters.
Most bars of soap, about a million, are thrown out each day by US hotels. But Clean the World, and other groups, are taking in  1.6 million pounds of soap a year through agreements with about 1,000 hotels. Clean the World charges hotels 65 cents a room to clean and redistribute soap and shampoo bottles. It has built recycling centers in Orlando, Las Vegas, Toronto, and Vancouver. Soap is sterilized in its plants and reformed into 2-ounce bars.
In the past 2 years, Clean the World has distributed more than 8 million bars of soap in the US and 40 countries, including Haiti, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and India. Its efforts have diverted 550 tons of waste from landfills. “Each day, 9,000 children die from diseases that can be prevented by washing with soap”, the organization says.

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