What Happens to Hotel Soap?

-

 Happy Recess Week! Although I didn't get to go for a staycation this week, I was living vicariously through other people's vacation experiences by watching hotel review videos on Youtube. Then I became curious as to what happened to left-over hotel amenities, like unused bars of soap or shampoo bottles. Do they get thrown away? If so, then that would mean a lot of waste is generated from hotels every day! Luckily, I found a video that helped satisfy my curiosity. Take a look: 

Source: Tech Insider 
Apparently, Hilton and a couple other hotel companies have been taking part in Clean the World, a social enterprise based in North America, which is dedicated to collecting and recycling soap bars that are left over for redistribution to children and families in need. Although it might seem off-putting that used soap is being recycled and repackaged, it's certainly better than being thrown away! What is most notable to me in the video is the statement "Hilton has pledged to divert all its soap from ending up in the trash by 2030", and that "Clean the World has kept 20 million pounds of hotel waste from polluting North American landfills since it was founded". This was however only specific to North America. But upon further research, I discovered that several hotels in Singapore (including Hilton) also participate in similar programmes, such as Soap for Hope and Soap Cycling. This certainly makes me feel better about not finishing my bar of soap, and it is definitely beneficial for the environment in terms of the reduction of waste. 

Reference(s): 

Tech Insider. (2019, December 23). How Used Hilton Hotel Soaps Get Recycled [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49oZt8Sl-JA&ab_channel=TechInsider

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Environmentally Unfriendly Start

-
Image
 3... 2... 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!  As people all around the world gathered to witness the display of fireworks, I couldn't help but think about how many more New Years we can experience on Earth. This year, the fireworks in Singapore were held around neighbourhoods to manage crowd control, although not all went as planned. An incident of a firework projectile hitting a nearby house resulted in a halt in the fireworks display, and concerns were raised regarding the safety of fireworks. However, how harmful are fireworks really?  Source: Channel News Asia. (2022). https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/hdb-block-hit-fireworks-projectile-ubi-new-year-2410346 Air Pollution from Fireworks  While decorative, fireworks are a rather potent source of air pollution, releasing PM10 and PM2.5 particles into the atmosphere. These particles are largely detrimental to one's health even when one is exposed to them in a short period of time, and are commonly associated with cardiovascular and
Read more

Festivals - Holi

-
Image
Holi 2022 celebration in India.  Source: National Today Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is a religious Spring festival celebrated by Hindus. This year, Holi falls on the 18th of March. Although celebrated a little differently according to cultural practices, the more common ways of celebrating are by lighting bonfires and throwing water and powder paints of various colours to commemorate love, spring and new life (BBC, 2022). Holi is also celebrated in Singapore, and the biggest scale event is organised by Rang De Holi every year, where people get to throw rainbow-coloured powders in an open field. But this event is celebrated on an even larger scale in India and Nepal due to its historical and cultural significance. As with all events and festivities however, this celebration has also drawn the attention of environmentalists for its toxic effects on humans and ecosystems. Taking a look at a research paper by Gardner and Lal (2012), the impacts of Holi celebrations are fou
Read more

Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Tests

-
Image
A test-firing of a missile in North Korea in January 2022. Source: REUTERS Last week, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un guided the testing of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Hwasong-17. This launch reportedly flew higher and for a longer time than previous missile tests, landed in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and was largely condemned by the G7 leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during their summit on 24th March (Smith & Shin, 2022). While this is devastating news, nuclear weapons testing is by no means unfamiliar to us. We can already expect some level of consequences to either the environment or humankind. The United Nations terms nuclear testing as the 'cruellest' environmental injustice due to its many lasting effects including radioactive nuclear waste causing lethal health impacts (United Nations, 2020).  Specific to North Korea, their missile testings have already significantly impacted
Read more