Recycling soap to people who need it ... finally

user 26 · Jun 18, 2011

I was so happy to see this ...
[h1]Recycling hotel soap to save lives[/h1]
on CNN online
lots of us on this forum have talked about this issue. having to throw away guest soap and cringing as we did so ... even the local homeless shelter i contacted was prohibited from taking it. so sad.
just saw the above article on cnn
so, thought i'd share what i looked for right away ....how to get the soap to the project ... and here it is
http://www.globalsoap.org/HotelPickupForm.php
"The Global Soap Project recovers discarded soap from hotels, reprocesses it into new bars and distributes it to vulnerable populations throughout the world."
sure do hope this works out!

Breakfast Diva · Jun 18, 2011

It's a great concept. I approached our state association about this a couple years ago because the cost was something like $50 per b&b per year, plus the shipping costs. I was hoping that our association would coordinate and we could just ship our soaps to the association, but nothing came of it.
I looked all over their website and couldn't see what the cost was to the hotel to join and participate.
Gilcrest and Somes has a recycle program also, but I don't know the cost to the hotel/b&b.
At $50 plus shipping costs of the soaps, I'm not too sure I'll participate. Just the shipping costs will be pretty prices over a year.

JBloggs · Jun 18, 2011

We discussed this in the past here.
IF there were say a central location, ie a PAII annual conference where everyone could contribute these soaps it could be something worthwhile, I mean it would be a group effort as well. BWTS can join up and use it in their wiley marketing schemes to appeal to the humanitarian "gen x and gen y." But the cost to send off "used soap" was ridiculous and a fee to join. I could order a brand new case of soap and have it sent to any of those locations for less.
If you find someone who uses this program successfully, please let us know.

toddburme · Jun 18, 2011

The envronmental impact of the packaging and shipping might out way the good.

Cbz · Jun 18, 2011

Isn't is better to go around giving the leftovers to labourer class ... or use it to wash rugs..

EmptyNest · Jun 18, 2011

Viper said:
Isn't is better to go around giving the leftovers to labourer class ... or use it to wash rugs...

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.

Generic · Jun 18, 2011

toddburme said:
The envronmental impact of the packaging and shipping might out way the good..

The whole individual packaging has horrible environmental impact. Small shampoo bottles might be recyclable, but they take an awful lot of fresh water to clean out. If they use paper containers, the paper is no longer recyclable.
We switched to central distributors for this purpose. Now, if I could only find someone who would sell me the shower gel in concentrate, so we can save on the shipping costs and petrol.

Joey Camb · Jun 18, 2011

its one of the reasons we use liquid hand soap no wastage. However we do keep in regular soap as some people prefer it.

muirford · Jun 18, 2011

Joey Bloggs said:
We discussed this in the past here.
IF there were say a central location, ie a PAII annual conference where everyone could contribute these soaps it could be something worthwhile, I mean it would be a group effort as well. BWTS can join up and use it in their wiley marketing schemes to appeal to the humanitarian "gen x and gen y." But the cost to send off "used soap" was ridiculous and a fee to join. I could order a brand new case of soap and have it sent to any of those locations for less.
If you find someone who uses this program successfully, please let us know..

Joey Bloggs said:
IF there were say a central location, ie a PAII annual conference where everyone could contribute these soaps it could be something worthwhile, I mean it would be a group effort as well.

There was a collection at the Mid-Atlantic Conference in Lancaster. I think the innkeeper who brought the most soaps won a prize, also. It was a lot of pounds of soap!

JBloggs · Jun 18, 2011

catlady said:
Viper said:

Isn't is better to go around giving the leftovers to labourer class ... or use it to wash rugs...

Click to expand...

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.
.

catlady said:
labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.

Our homeless shelters are richer than most countries in the world, and as they can turn down gifts of used soap.
But, I believe it was Penelope who posted a link on this forum about melting down used soaps, so I hope it is in resources section.
and LISTEN people stop casting stones about WHAT IS RIGHT OR WRONG when someone buys an individual soap or shampoo, is it just me getting dang tired of this rubbish! If you want to use flippin' dispensers and pat yourselves on the backs go right ahead, if you want cute individual bars of soap (all natural or made from lye) go ahead. If you are open to the public YOU ARE WASTiNG WATER. Period. Full stop. Close the doors, stop wasting water, resources, food down the sink. Give your guests a once per day flush policy, give them leaves to use as TP.
There are alot of things I CAN SAY ARE 100% WRONG and don't do it. Plenty of others on the forum can as well.
I just wanted to say this as it gets my goat, every time soap is brought up we have the Dispenser Police blast their horns.

Don Draper · Jun 18, 2011

Joey Bloggs said:
catlady said:

Viper said:

Isn't is better to go around giving the leftovers to labourer class ... or use it to wash rugs...

Click to expand...

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.
.

Click to expand...

catlady said:

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.

Click to expand...

Our homeless shelters are richer than most countries in the world, and as they can turn down gifts of used soap.
But, I believe it was Penelope who posted a link on this forum about melting down used soaps, so I hope it is in resources section.
and LISTEN people stop casting stones about WHAT IS RIGHT OR WRONG when someone buys an individual soap or shampoo, is it just me getting dang tired of this rubbish! If you want to use flippin' dispensers and pat yourselves on the backs go right ahead, if you want cute individual bars of soap (all natural or made from lye) go ahead. If you are open to the public YOU ARE WASTiNG WATER. Period. Full stop. Close the doors, stop wasting water, resources, food down the sink. Give your guests a once per day flush policy, give them leaves to use as TP.
There are alot of things I CAN SAY ARE 100% WRONG and don't do it. Plenty of others on the forum can as well.
I just wanted to say this as it gets my goat, every time soap is brought up we have the Dispenser Police blast their horns.
.

Man, I miss you when you're gone! BUT it sounds like you got away a bit so that makes me happy. You rock JB

Generic · Jun 18, 2011

Joey Bloggs said:
catlady said:

Viper said:

Isn't is better to go around giving the leftovers to labourer class ... or use it to wash rugs...

Click to expand...

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.
.

Click to expand...

catlady said:

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.

Click to expand...

Our homeless shelters are richer than most countries in the world, and as they can turn down gifts of used soap.
But, I believe it was Penelope who posted a link on this forum about melting down used soaps, so I hope it is in resources section.
and LISTEN people stop casting stones about WHAT IS RIGHT OR WRONG when someone buys an individual soap or shampoo, is it just me getting dang tired of this rubbish! If you want to use flippin' dispensers and pat yourselves on the backs go right ahead, if you want cute individual bars of soap (all natural or made from lye) go ahead. If you are open to the public YOU ARE WASTiNG WATER. Period. Full stop. Close the doors, stop wasting water, resources, food down the sink. Give your guests a once per day flush policy, give them leaves to use as TP.
There are alot of things I CAN SAY ARE 100% WRONG and don't do it. Plenty of others on the forum can as well.
I just wanted to say this as it gets my goat, every time soap is brought up we have the Dispenser Police blast their horns.
.

"Kindness not only makes the coffee. Kindness says good morning."
Doesn't seem to match the message it's attached to. No one said anyone was right or wrong and frankly the rest of the this discussion was civil and respectful of other people, until....

Don Draper · Jun 18, 2011

Eric Arthur Blair said:
toddburme said:

The envronmental impact of the packaging and shipping might out way the good..

Click to expand...

The whole individual packaging has horrible environmental impact. Small shampoo bottles might be recyclable, but they take an awful lot of fresh water to clean out. If they use paper containers, the paper is no longer recyclable.
We switched to central distributors for this purpose. Now, if I could only find someone who would sell me the shower gel in concentrate, so we can save on the shipping costs and petrol.
.

I'm sure this is true with packaging, but there are SO many people who are just NOT happy with "dispensed" soap in a B&B. It's just not "high class" enough, for some. When you think about all the water and electricity we waste, being open "to the public", biodegradable cardboard boxes for individual soaps and recyclable plastic shampoo bottles kind of pale in comparison.

Generic · Jun 18, 2011

Don Draper said:
Eric Arthur Blair said:

toddburme said:

The envronmental impact of the packaging and shipping might out way the good..

Click to expand...

The whole individual packaging has horrible environmental impact. Small shampoo bottles might be recyclable, but they take an awful lot of fresh water to clean out. If they use paper containers, the paper is no longer recyclable.
We switched to central distributors for this purpose. Now, if I could only find someone who would sell me the shower gel in concentrate, so we can save on the shipping costs and petrol.
.

Click to expand...

I'm sure this is true with packaging, but there are SO many people who are just NOT happy with "dispensed" soap in a B&B. It's just not "high class" enough, for some. When you think about all the water and electricity we waste, being open "to the public", biodegradable cardboard boxes for individual soaps and recyclable plastic shampoo bottles kind of pale in comparison.
.

Yes and there are SO many people who are NOT happy with all the waste either. I get a lot of people who like what we are doing and some who don't. It's the same with everything.
In my jurisdiction, sustainability is part of our regulated ratings. I lose points for using individual soaps, even if the packaging is recyclable because the contents aren't. I also get points for use of biodegradable products. It's also easier for us, since we can simply put everything recyclable (except number 6 plastic) into one giant bin and the city takes care of the rest.
We used soap at one time. We turned over most of the bars of unused soap to charity when we switched.
It works for us. Everyone has to do what works for them.

Don Draper · Jun 18, 2011

Eric Arthur Blair said:
Don Draper said:

Eric Arthur Blair said:

toddburme said:

The envronmental impact of the packaging and shipping might out way the good..

Click to expand...

The whole individual packaging has horrible environmental impact. Small shampoo bottles might be recyclable, but they take an awful lot of fresh water to clean out. If they use paper containers, the paper is no longer recyclable.
We switched to central distributors for this purpose. Now, if I could only find someone who would sell me the shower gel in concentrate, so we can save on the shipping costs and petrol.
.

Click to expand...

I'm sure this is true with packaging, but there are SO many people who are just NOT happy with "dispensed" soap in a B&B. It's just not "high class" enough, for some. When you think about all the water and electricity we waste, being open "to the public", biodegradable cardboard boxes for individual soaps and recyclable plastic shampoo bottles kind of pale in comparison.
.

Click to expand...

Yes and there are SO many people who are NOT happy with all the waste either. I get a lot of people who like what we are doing and some who don't. It's the same with everything.
In my jurisdiction, sustainability is part of our regulated ratings. I lose points for using individual soaps, even if the packaging is recyclable because the contents aren't. I also get points for use of biodegradable products. It's also easier for us, since we can simply put everything recyclable (except number 6 plastic) into one giant bin and the city takes care of the rest.
We used soap at one time. We turned over most of the bars of unused soap to charity when we switched.
It works for us. Everyone has to do what works for them.
.

Eric Arthur Blair said:
Yes and there are SO many people who are NOT happy with all the waste either.

Now, now...you can't talk about not being disrespectful in one post and then do something like this! Simmer down.

scrambled_eggs · Jun 18, 2011

Does anyone know if this is free? I'm not going to pay to have my soap shipped off somewhere like Gilchrist does.

Cbz · Jun 19, 2011

[email protected] said:
its one of the reasons we use liquid hand soap no wastage. However we do keep in regular soap as some people prefer it..

[email protected] said:
its one of the reasons we use liquid hand soap no wastage. However we do keep in regular soap as some people prefer it.

One of our guests took off with the liquid body wash dispenser which was tightly screwed in the wall.... strange ways.

Cbz · Jun 19, 2011

catlady said:
Viper said:

Isn't is better to go around giving the leftovers to labourer class ... or use it to wash rugs...

Click to expand...

labourer class
Huh???? Maybe you refer to our homeless shelters?? No they won't even take used soap.
.

Must be some other alternative to the $50~ shipping cost for used soaps. Can't think of any other than washing rugs, distributing it to the homeless/ sweepers here or melting it down & using as hand wash.

Breakfast Diva · Jun 19, 2011

Barry_Manilow said:
Does anyone know if this is free? I'm not going to pay to have my soap shipped off somewhere like Gilchrist does..

Last time I checked which was last year at the PAII conference in Austin, it was $50 to join (not sure if it's annually) and then you pay the shipping to their recycling center in GA.

Recycling soap to people who need it ... finally

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