How @CleantheWorld Recycles Hotel Soap is Recycled to help stem Ebola's Rise in West Africa

“It's such a fundamental part of the interruption of transmission of infectious agents that could save so many lives. It's not a magic wand, but it's a very important element”

CEO of Clean the World, Shawn Seipler, on his quest to recycle soap from Hotels to be send to countries where soap and Water can save lives from infectious diseases

Recycling soap is a way of life for me as its good Hygiene. Whenever a bar of soap is about to finish, I usually collect them, then wet them and slowly mould them together to form a ball of soap for use to wash my hands.

But did you know that in some part of the world, access to Soap and water are the main cause of disease spread? Not only is the lack of sanitation making it harder to fight diseases such as Bird flu (H5N2), Influenza (H1N1) and even the deadly Ebola Virus as explained in the article “Ebola Virus Can Be Killed with Soap and Water”, published August 05, 2014 by Lorie Johnson, CBN News?

So says the WHO (World Health Organization) Ebola Website, whose infographic says as much

One man, Shawn Seipler of Orlando, Florida, has realized this. In a bid to save people dying because of a lack of good hygiene, he has started a Non-profit Organization called Clean the World.

Clean the World collects unused Hotel Soap and reprocesses it into soap for Third World Countries as reported in the article “Group hopes recycled hotel soap helps save lives worldwide”, published April 10, 2015 By BRIAN SKOLOFF Associated Press, Yahoo News.

Clean the World, which has processing plants in Las Vegas, Orlando and Hong Kong, collects unused soap and bathing lathers from some 4,000 hotels that are in these major cities.

How Clean the World makes Soap – Leftovers from Hotels washed and made new again

The soap is then shredded using grinders and potato peelers and then boiled in cookers to kill any residual bacteria. The liquid soap is then dehydrated using an evaporator and then squeezed through an extruder to make new bars and packaged for delivery.

These new bars of soap are delivered to some ninety nine (99) countries around the world that have no access to soap. This includes places such as the Middle East and even Homeless Shelters in the US of A. To date Clean the World has delivered some roughly 25 million bars of reprocessed soap worldwide.

Clean the World coordinates with local aid and non-governmental organizations to not only distribute the recycled Soap but also educate people about the benefits of good hygiene. The even send their own teams into rural communities to not only do deliveries but also spread the gospel of Soap and its usage to maintain good hygiene.

A hard sell to be sure, especially in countries where potable water is so scarce, you have to decide between taking a bath, washing your hands or cooking.

Hotel Soap for Third World Countries - How Recycled Soap can stop Ebola and other diseases

So how did Shawn Seipler, who is now CEO of Clean the World, decided that this was a worthwhile venture?

He started by asking questions about what happened to the Hotel soap after a night at a Minneapolis Hotel. According to Shawn Seipler, the Hotel soap is only used once and then sent to landfills, quote: “I picked up the phone and called the front desk and asked them what happens to the bar of soap when I'm done using it. They said they just threw it away”.

And thus began this former IT Technology Employees quest to collect soap not openly from hotels but also public restrooms, rest stops and even and even cleanser wipes at the entrances of grocery stores used to sanitize shopping cart handles.

This lack of Soap and Water to bathe and even wash your hands is a serious problem that’s making it hard to stop the spread of infectious diseases to quote professor of preventive medicine and an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee Dr. William Schaffner: “It's a huge problem. One of the most common kinds of illnesses in the world are those that are transmitted from person to person and to oneself because of germs that are on one's hands”.

So true, as Hand washing and bathing with soap and water alone can stop the spread of diseases like Ebola, which despite the hype created by the Media, is being spread mainly in the rural parts of West Africa and is NOT airborne.

Ebola rises again in West Africa - How Hand washing and Bathing can stem Ebola’s Resurgence

Up to about February of 2015, the following cases have been recorded in West Africa, carried back to Sierra Leone by sick fisher folk who spread the disease into the country side as stated in the article “Nearly Halted in Sierra Leone, Ebola Makes Comeback by Sea”, published FEB. 28, 2015 by SHERI FINK, NY Times:

1.      80 in Sierra Leone

2.      39 in Guinea

3.      5 in Liberia

4.      124 New Ebola Case in Total

In fact, this may be the tip of the iceberg as the disease is on the rise to quote United Nations special envoy on Ebola, Dr David Nabarro: “We're on a good path, this is coming down, but we really have to be vigilant because there are still pockets of infection”.

The lack of access to clean potable water and soap has been cited as the main reason why the Ebola Virus is slowly making a comeback in West Africa as noted in the article “New Ebola cases show first rise in 2015”, published 4 February 2015, BBC News.

Below is a snapshot of a continuously updated graphic that shows Ebola Deaths in West Africa:

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), the disease is slowly making 2015 its playground after ravaging West Africa Killing some 10,600 since December 2013. Worse may be yet to come.

But there may be a light at the end of the tunnel now that Shawn Seipler, CEO of Clean the World, is out to save West Africa, one recycled bar of Soap at a time.

Here’s the link:

WHO (World Health Organization) Ebola Website

Clean the World Website

Clean the World YouTube Channel

Clean the World Facebook Page

Clean the World Twitter Feed: @CleantheWorld