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Oaks Hotels, Resorts and Suites has donated 862 kilograms of soap throughout 2020 to Soap Aid in support of their “Hotel to Hands” Program. Oaks partnered with the not-for-profit organisation in January 2019, supporting the program which reprocesses and delivers recycled hotel soap to communities in Australia and overseas facing major hygiene challenges, which is more important than ever before in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By diverting the leftover soaps from landfill, the product can be recycled to create fresh new soap, equivalent to 8,620 bars.

The soap donated from Oaks’ Australian and New Zealand portfolio of over 60 properties during 2020 has had the following humanitarian and environmental impacts:

  • 8,620 x 100-gram bars of fresh soap generated
  • 156 children’s lives saved (determined by World Health Organisation)
  • 354 children supplied with fresh soap for 12 months
  • .99 tCO2e saved from entering the atmosphere – which is the equivalent to:
    • 416 litres of fuel saved
    • 5,695 kilometres off the road
    • 1 vehicle off the road

Since becoming a Soap Aid partner in 2019, the total soap that Oaks diverted from landfill to Soap Aid is 3,497 kilograms making 34,970 bars of new soap. In total, this supplied soap to 1,437 children for 12-months, and according to WHO saved 632 children’s lives. The total environmental impact saved 4.01 tCO2e from entering the atmosphere.

“Any measure we can take within our hotels to contribute to a more sustainable future is of great importance to us at Minor Hotels. We’re proud to partner with Soap Aid to support their life-saving work with vulnerable communities,” said Craig Hooley, Chief Operating Officer for Minor Hotels Australia and New Zealand.

“We are looking forward to our continued partnership with Oaks Hotels, Resorts & Suites for the Soap Aid Hotel to Hands soap recycling program,” said Rachel Chrapot, CEO of Soap Aid.

“Now more than ever soap and good hygiene practices are essential to help reduce the spread of disease. By partnering with Soap Aid and diverting vital soap from landfill to Soap Aid, Oaks Hotels, Resorts & Suites is helping us to distribute soap and hygiene education to the most vulnerable communities.”

Soap Aid is committed to saving children’s lives through improved hygiene, while positively impacting the environment. Over two billion people across the world lack adequate sanitation, causing the spread of infectious diseases and hygiene-related deaths. Large volumes of discarded soap end up in overflowing landfills and directly affect the environment. Soap Aid collect, sort, clean and reprocess hotel soap into fresh, hygienic soap bars for distribution to targeted communities around the world. Throughout the year Soap Aid has been helping to reduce the spread of COVID across Australia and in New Zealand, Asia, The Pacific and Africa.