13th September 2018
Clean the World is a social enterprise on a mission to lead a global hygiene revolution. The organisation takes unused soaps, shower gels, shampoos and body lotions from hotels such as ours, and recycles them into soap and hygiene products. Clean the World then distributes these products to children and families around the world living in localities with high death rates due to diseases such as pneumonia and cholera.
It’s an innovative, creative and inspirational project that tackles both environmental and health issues – and we jumped at the chance to be involved here at The Athenaeum.
As a result, any open toiletry containers guests leave behind in our rooms go towards this cause. This includes soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, body lotion, hair oil, shaving creams and foams. As long as it’s an item that can be recycled and converted into soap or shampoo, we make sure it goes to Clean the World.
The knock-on effect that steps like this can have globally is staggering. Acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia and diarrheal diseases including cholera are two of the most common causes of death for children under the age of five. Yet regularly washing hands with soap drastically reduces the impact and spread of these diseases.
Tapping into the idea that there is an abundance of soap products already in existence in the world – a significant proportion of which can go to waste – Clean the World partners with hospitality providers to get hold of these unused products that would otherwise be thrown away. The social enterprise goes on to process all products through a rigorous recycling method, which includes a cleansing and testing phase to ensure the products are completely free of germs and pathogens. Once the recycled soaps and shampoos are ready, Clean the World collaborates with a network of non-profit organisations working on humanitarian issues to distribute the hygiene products to the people who need them most.
Clean the World has distributed more than 41 million bars of soap in 118 countries since 2009.
With fewer toiletries ending up in landfill sites, and recycled products being used by people who really need them instead, this environmental and humanitarian initiative is a win-win situation. We couldn’t be prouder to be partnering with Clean the World in its global hygiene revolution.
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