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Second Life for Soap
ODD ANDERSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX
SOAP CEO: Clean the World founder, Shawn Seipler
Almost 90 percent of people who stay in hotel rooms leave behind used soap. On average, hotels throw away more than 3 million bars daily. Shawn Seipler noticed this wasteful trend while traveling for business. That’s why he created the organization Clean the World—to recycle used soap and send it to children whose families couldn’t otherwise afford it.
Clean the World collects, shreds, disinfects, and repackages used hotel soap. So far, the organization has distributed nearly 70 million bars of recycled soap to people in more than 120 countries. Seipler is proud of Clean the World’s mission. “Businesses, families, and even kids have joined forces to help others and the planet!” he says.
Clean the World collects bars of soap from more than 8,000 hotels worldwide. Here’s how the company transforms the used soap into freshly disinfected bars.
MAY TSE/SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST VIA GETTY IMAGES
1. Housekeepers collect used bars of soap after guests check out. The soap is shipped to one of Clean the World’s recycling facilities.
© BRIAN CAHN/ZUMA WIRE
2. The soap is ground up and filtered to remove hair, paper, and other surface debris.
JOHN LOCHER/AP IMAGES
3. Shredded soap is mixed with a chemical solution that sterilizes the soap, killing bacteria and other microbes.
GEORGE SKENE/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE VIA GETTY IMAGES
4. The soap pieces are pushed through an extruder into one long bar of soap.
5. The soap is cut into individual bars, boxed, and sent to nonprofit organizations to distribute to those in need.