BuyEfficient Donates 8 Tons of Soap to Clean the World

It’s not often we receive an email that has so much potential impact. But, boy, is it fun when we do.

Marti Mosley, soap drive coordinator at Clean the World, received an email in January from BuyEfficient of Aliso Viejo, Calif.

The message was simple: We have lots of supplies and we want to help Clean the World.

After a brief conversation about Clean the World’s mission and how BuyEfficient could help advance our global hygiene revolution, the results are in: More than 8 tons of soap have been shipped to Clean the World to help stop the spread of preventable diseases worldwide.

BuyEfficient, which offers complete online purchasing solutions for the hospitality industry, worked with 11 separate HD Supply locations across the United States to collect and send 16,356 lbs. of soap and 235 lbs. of bottled amenities to Clean the World. The collective cost of the donation is nearly $24,000.

“I was blown away,” says Mosley. “When I first heard BuyEfficient was interested in making a donation, I was expecting something in the neighborhood of 500 bars of soap. This is just unbelievably generous, and when I think of how many children will benefit from this one donation it just makes me so happy.”

The BuyEfficient donation was divided between Clean the World’s Orlando and Las Vegas Recycling Operations Centers. Many of the soaps and bottled amenities will be packaged in hygiene kits that are being sent to children and families in Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala and a number of domestic homeless shelters and missions.

And that’s not all… Inspired by Clean the World’s mission to save lives with soap, a passionate group of BuyEfficient employees at the corporate office in California conducted their own soap drive, which netted another 150 lbs. of soap for people in need.
 

According to its company website, 1,200 Member hotels representing more than 25 hotel brands from leading hotel management companies and ownership groups rely on BuyEfficient to manage their end-to-end purchasing activities.

Thank you, BuyEfficient, for your enormous generosity, and thanks for helping Clean the World.

RSVP: Feb. 29, Grand Opening of Las Vegas ROC

Though the activity level has been high for quite some time there, the “official” opening of the Las Vegas Recycling Operations Center (ROC) is still a few weeks away. And it should be a very big deal.

Hospitality partners, local business leaders and dignitaries are expected to attend the dramatic ribbon-cutting event Feb. 29 from 10 a.m.-Noon at the Las Vegas ROC. As the name implies, the facility serves as the recycling operations center for soaps and bottled amenities collected by Clean the World partners in the Western region of the United States, under the direction of Debi Kinney.

Clean the World sponsors the grand opening event in partnership with Caesars Foundation, which has provided $250,000 worth of grants to the facility. The grants emphasize the commitment of its Las Vegas founding partners, the Caesars Foundation and Caesars Entertainment, to advance Clean the World’s global hygiene revolution and save lives with soap. Caesars' properties have already donated more than 40 tons of soap and bottled amenities to the cause.

Other Clean the World hospitality partners expected to attend the Las Vegas ribbon-cutting event include: Wynn/Encore, The Palazzo, The Venetian, Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas, Disneyland Resorts and Marriott’s Grand Chateau. Regional recipients of Clean the World’s recycled products include The Las Vegas Rescue Mission, Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child and The Salvation Army.

There is excitement building for the Feb. 29 event and a genuine feeling that we are getting closer to accomplishing our mission of recycling soap to save lives in Las Vegas and around the world,” Kinney says. “Our hospitality partners in Las Vegas are among the top providers of soaps and bottled amenities to Clean the World, and this facility is a place they’ll be able to point to with pride for promoting sustainability and socially responsibility.”

It is hoped the event will attract media coverage to draw attention to the hygiene needs of children and families in local Las Vegas communities and the world beyond its borders.

If you’d like to attend the event, please RSVP to Debi Kinney at dkinney@cleantheworld.org by Feb. 22.

Sysco Guest Supply Comes Through Again

Thanks to our friends at Sysco Guest Supply in New Jersey for completing another impressive production run on behalf of Clean the World.

David J. Baron, soap operations supervisor at Guest Packaging, LLC, confirmed that his team processed nearly 88,000 soap bars (3 oz. apiece), which filled 14 pallets. The soaps produced by Sysco Guest Supply will be distributed by Children International, one of Clean the World's prominent global distribution partners, to help stop the spread of preventable diseases in the United States, Canada and more than 45 countries.

Since Clean the World’s founding in 2009, Sysco Guest Supply has donated more than 50,000 lbs. of soap, bottled amenities, cleaning products, tissue paper and paper towels to Clean the World’s soap recycling efforts.

10,000 Soap Bars to Ethiopia

Clean the World’s Las Vegas Recycling Operations Center (ROC) has been busy preparing for its Feb. 29 grand opening event, but there is a lot of other good work being done there as well.

Recently, the Las Vegas facility set aside 10,000 soap bars for an essential overseas distribution.

Jewish Voice Ministries International, an evangelical ministry based in Phoenix, Ariz., will receive the soaps and distribute them to children and families in Ethiopian villages where soap is scarce, and diseases are common.

Melissa Johnston, international logistics manager at JVMI, says volunteers will distribute the soaps during two, separate five-day medical outreach trips to Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, and the village of Woliso.

“The trips are scheduled in late February and early March, and we hope to bring awareness to the importance of personal hygiene, including hand washing with soap,” Johnston says. “We’ll distribute from two medical clinics in those regions and hope to provide information about and access to soap so lives may be improved there.”

Johnston says her first experience with Clean the World has been a good one, as she expressed in a note to Rosanna Kingston, who coordinates the organization’s non-profit partnerships.

“Thank you for putting together the donation so quickly,” Johnston writes. “You and your team provided excellent service and advice. The donation request process was smooth because of your assistance. We know that this soap will go a long way to help the people of Ethiopia.”

If you know of an organization that would like to arrange for soap distributions either domestically or overseas, please contact Rosanna Kingston at rkingston@cleantheworld.org.

10 Million Soap Bars and Counting

Clean the World’s “hometown newspaper” – The Orlando Sentinel – recently published a terrific piece about our organization's origin and growth in three years of operation.

The article by reporter Kate Santich has been syndicated to multiple media markets throughout North America and has gained quite a bit of attention for Clean the World and our mission to save lives with soap. By placing Orlando at the center of our global hygiene revolution, readers of this original article, and those who come across it in other media outlets, can confidently target Central Florida as a vital and developing hotspot for sustainable business in one of the world's best known hospitality and tourism locations.

As always we wish to thank our valued hospitality partners, some of whom are mentioned in the article, for their investment in our hospitality partnership program and support of our global hygiene revolution.

We could not reach so far, so fast without the encouragement and involvement of people who truly believe in sustainability and socially responsible programs in the hospitality industry. As Clean the World grows, you will grow right along with us. Together we will achieve great things. We already have.

Clean the World Celebrates Opening of Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel

Summary: Clean the World corporate hospitality partner Carlson anticipates collecting, recycling and distributing 16,000 bars of soap annually from this one downtown Chicago hotel

The stunning, new Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, a Carlson property, marks its grand opening Jan. 26 in Chicago as a proud partner with Clean the World, an Orlando-based social enterprise and largest global recycler of hotel amenities.

With 334 modern, luxurious and well-appointed rooms, Radisson Blu Aqua, in partnership with Clean the World, is projected to collect, recycle and distribute 16,000 bars of soap and 33,694 bottled amenities to children in need each year.

Carlson, one of the world’s leading hotel companies, represents 1,067 hotels in 77 countries under four brands: Radisson, Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, Park Inn by Radisson and Park Plaza. The agreement with Clean the World, including Radisson Blu Aqua, has the potential to include soap recycling efforts at 607 properties in North America, representing 69,535 hotel rooms.

Clean the World presently works with 30 Carlson properties that have contributed more than 10,085 lbs. of soaps (nearly 53,787 soap bars). That’s enough to provide 10,757 children with enough soap for an entire month.

Each day 9,000 children around the world die from diseases such as acute respiratory illness and diarrheal diseases that can be prevented by washing with bar soap. Clean the World has a mission to put soap in the hands of people who need it most to improve hygiene and sanitation conditions and to lessen the impact of disease and promote better hygiene and living conditions worldwide.
 

“Carlson is a remarkable corporate partner to Clean the World that emphasizes sustainability in all aspects of the hospitality business,” says Shawn Seipler, CEO and co-founder at Clean the World. “The opening of Radisson Blu Aqua is strong testament to their forward-thinking and attention to detail, which includes an array of social programs that help improve the standard of living and hygiene conditions for communities all around the world.”

Guests at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel can feel confident knowing that the amenities available to them during their stay will receive new life as desperately-needed hygiene supplies for disadvantaged families at home and abroad.

“With all the excitement centered on the opening of Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, we recognize that there are people who will benefit from the generosity of the guests who stay here,” says Jim Conway, Director of Operations at Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel. “We’re happy to partner with Clean the World and look forward to filling the rooms so we may provide as many soaps and bottled amenities as possible for children and families in need worldwide.”

As a gleaming and gorgeous addition to the downtown Chicago skyline, Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel serves as a stylish and sustainable reminder that social responsibility is within everyone’s reach.

About Carlson
Carlson is a global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson encompasses 1,067 hotels, including Radisson^®, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson^SM, Park Inn by Radisson and Park Plaza^®; more than 900 T.G.I. Friday’s^® restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel^®, the global leader in business travel management. Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and its brands employ about 170,000 people.  http://www.carlson.com

Kalahari Resorts Helps Clean the World

You may not make it to Africa this year, but your soaps may.

Home to America’s largest indoor waterparks, the authentically African-themed Kalahari Resorts and Convention Center has partnered with Orlando-based social enterprise Clean the World to collect and recycle hotel soaps and shampoos to help fight the global spread of preventable diseases.

The soaps collected by Kalahari Resorts in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. and Sandusky, Ohio will be shipped to Clean the World for recycling and distribution to communities and countries in greatest need through the efforts of the Clean the World Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Clean the World is the largest global recycler of hotel amenities. In just two years of operation the charitable and philanthropic Clean the World Foundation has distributed more than nine million bars of soap to children and families in the United States, Haiti and more than 45 additional countries worldwide.

Kalahari Resorts has a combined total of 1,646 rooms, and is projected to provide 88,937 bars of soap and 187,063 bottled amenities to Clean the World annually. The amount is enough to provide hygiene supplies and comfort for 17,792 children for a full year.

“As a family run company we are always looking for ways to help support the surrounding communities, whether it’s a new high school football field, band instruments or raising money for charitable causes like Andy North and Friends,” said Travis Nelson, Kalahari Resorts spokesman. “That is why we are happy to announce our new partnership with Clean the World, which will allow us to extend our reach and give back to families in need around the globe.”

Since the first Kalahari Resort opened in 2000, the company has worked to implement several eco-friendly practices both large and small. One example is the use of the resort’s massive fans in the waterparks to push warm air, which has naturally risen to the ceiling, down to the floor, significantly reducing heating costs. The Wisconsin Dells property has also invested in an AquaRecycle® system that recycles 70 percent of laundry water, a savings of 26 million gallons of water annually.

Clean the World has partnered with more than 1,200 hotel properties in North America to provide soaps and bottled amenities to people in need. While doing so, the organization has also fulfilled a valuable environmental mission by diverting an estimated 1.2 million lbs. (600 tons) of hotel waste from polluting landfills in the United States and Canada.