Where does your hotel soap go?
Ever wonder what happens to your hotel soap and bathroom amenities after you've checked out of the room? You probably thought the products go straight in the trash, but in fact, they're one of the easiest things to recycle.
Aligning with Earth Day initiatives this year, InterContinental Hotels Group announced a partnership with Clean the World to recycle hotel soap and amenities from hotels in the United States and Canada, and distribute them in communities with limited access to hygiene products.
According to Clean the World, 9,000 children around the world die from acute respiratory illness and diarrheal diseases that can be prevented by washing with bar soap. As part of IHG’s Green Engage program (the hotel's sustainability system), Clean the World will have access to all the unopened and unused hotel amenities, which IHG hopes will reduce solid waste by 50 percent for each participating hotel.
How can you help? Just leave your hotel bathroom amenities behind. Instead of packing up the travel-sized soaps, lotions and shampoos, leave them in the bathroom for the hotel to collect and give to Clean the World, where they'll be recycled and redistributed to communities in need.
The IHG brands participating include InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Inn hotels, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. Clean the World Foundation Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization that is committed to stopping the spread of preventable diseases by collecting, recycling and distributing hotel guest room amenities to children and families in the United States, Canada and more than 45 countries worldwide. Through its sustainable and socially responsible efforts, including a patented method of sterilizing soaps during the recycling process to remove potential germs and pathogens, Clean the World has helped divert more than 1.4 million pounds of hotel waste from local landfills.
Readers: Have you ever helped out with a hotel's community efforts? Share your stories in the comments section.
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About the author
Melanie Nayer is a travel writer who spent many years in the newsroom before jetting off to see the world. Her goal is to bring readers the best insider information More »Recent blog posts
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