Hundreds of millions of soap bars are discarded in North America while 2 million children die from diarrheal illnesses annually.  Many impoverished families simply could not afford to purchase soap and out of necessity, they spend their money on food and medicine.  According to The World Bank, hygiene is the most cost-effective health intervention available.  Organizations such as The Global Soap Project and The Clean the World Foundation already have a strong track record in collecting soap from many hotel chains, processing them, and distributing them.  Not only have they donated the soap, but they also have hygiene education programs to ensure that hand washing becomes part of people’s daily habits.  The Global Soap Project also announced two months ago that they have started microlending to soap makers. 

I decided to start his petition because in the summer of 2013, I visited a student-run non-profit organization in Hong Kong called Soap Cycling.  This non-profit collects, sanitizes, and recycles slightly used soaps and other sanitation amenities.  They are then distributed to underprivileged families and schools in disadvantaged communities especially those in Asia.  I was able to see the actual machine that they use for the processing of the used soaps and I saw the level of dedication that students have put into the project from setting up the organization to running its daily operations.  It was very eye-opening how one man’s trash can truly be another man’s treasure. 

Sandals has 24 properties in seven different countries so therefore is in the perfect position to do a lot of positive good for many communities both locally and globally.  The cost of donating the soap is potentially less than that of simply discarding the soap.  There are many corporate social responsibility initiatives that Sandals has taken on and this would be another endeavor that Sandals is prepared to tackle.  As a leader in the luxury resort chain industry, Sandals would be once again be establishing itself as a frontrunner.  Sandals could potentially be saving many lives just by donating unused soap to those who are unable to afford it.

Please sign this petition to convince Sandals to donate all their slightly used or unused soap from all their resorts to those that really need it to stay alive.  Thanks!