ThisTimeLastYear
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Source: https://twitter.com/thehustle/status/1519375313515716608?s=21&t=q9zFo2pqak1acV3sB91kMg
Article: https://thehustle.co/the-surprising-afterlife-of-used-hotel-soap/
(originally posted by @minPD0309 on 2022-04-28 06:42:13)
Higure
Freakonomics recently did an episode on this: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/used-hotel-soaps/
HarvM
If we could “recycle” all the food we waste we could feed everyone that is hungry on this planet. I put recycle in quotes because you don’t reuse most food, but the USA could give away fresh food to hungry people instead of fattening up over half the population and throwing out 119 billion tons of food, but that doesn’t fit with capitalism.
KILLERCHROMATIC
I liked this 18 times
OPlinko
In my family we save and donate them to womens shelters.
MeodwyDoody
I spend about 190 days a year in hotels and there are definitely times I’ll literally use a bar of soap twice. I’m definitely happy that they’re able to be recycled and used for good things.
vegivamp
Umm... Unused soap bars? As in unopened? Why would those be thrown out? Personally i always take the opened stuff home to finish because I know full well anything opened is going to get thrown away. If this means unopened items also get trashed because fuck the environment, then I'll be taking all of it from now on...
Blackadam7
Whenever I read stories like this, I regain a little respect for humanity again. It's not only kind, but shows a lot of ingenuity. Recycle soap? Brilliant! So much waste being reused! And then trying to use it to save lives? Even better! I travel. I wonder if I can ship them soap?
ejw909
Who are the 14% of guests that don't use soap...?
DanzKMK0
You should see how much food is wasted in hotels. Where i used to work, on a daily basis, just 5-6 bins 3000l each in the morning only
Kellie1174
One good thing in Florida.
squillis
To be fair, this chart shows 30 years of data so the 14 year span is less than half of that meaning he contributed to an existing pattern of decline
ronnyek
there is an episode of dirty jobs about this business
morninggloryshade777
Great idea but need to know how they disinfect or sterilize the leftover soaps b4 proceeding w redistribution....
thefoogy
That’s why hotels like “Tru” by Hilton have liquid dispensers. Duh.
RTK4740
Astonishing. Man wonders, “what happens to all the soap?” And, yadda, yadda, yadda, reduces child deaths globally.
Killerismycat
There is a Dirty Jobs episode about this! Awesome idea with a noble goal
parabolic000
too bad Mike Rowe is a POS. argument: he shills fossil fuels, repeats the conservative talking points about how liberal arts degrees are worthless and people should go into STEM or trades, despite the fact that he's a classically trained opera singer, which is basically the elitist job one could imagine.
iamgnat
He trained, he doesn't actually do that. Though he is a high-ish profile media personality, so I suppose the argument still stands. I agree there are warts on Mike, be he does do a bunch of work to highlight trade jobs and try to remove the stigma that's been thrown on them since the 80s. It's a good thing to make people aware that college isn't the only path to a good life and good incomes.
WhackChat
That’s unrrheal!!!
AnAverageBoxEnthusiast
I save the soap and use it at home.
spongerX
I was recently in a US hotel for nearly 2 weeks. I had to resort to hiding the soap and mini shampoos I was using to stop house keeping taking my used soap and shampoos after just one night and replacing with new products
AFelineMassofEyes
You can tell them to not make up your room, & they won't even go inside.
jicahmusic
I love this and always wanted to be able to do something like this, but you would need a substantial amount of start up money and a fuck ton saved to be living off. I’m assuming he pays for his loving needs through some of the donation funds. My wife would lose her mind if I one day came home and said honey, I’ve quit my job and going to start a soap recycling facility in the garage. Amazing, but extremely difficult for most to just decide to do one day.
binaryspike
I doubt that's what he did. It was probably a weekend business for a while.
erroniousmaximus
I wish we could see where they kicked in and helped lower the number, but it seems that thankfully there was already a downward trend.
billyrayvirus
That man's name? Jackie Chan.
ErniesWidow
The first thing everybody in health care is taught: "Good handwashing is the single best way to prevent the spread of infection"
ViscousCousCous
#2 WHAT ABOUT THE BED?? I always use the bed, I rarely use the bar soap. I bring my own but that's due to allergies.
Howfuckinhardisittogetausername
A lot of UK hotels are now using pump soap dispensers, so no left overs.
Imalwaysready
They'll tell you it was to cut cost, reduce waste, and provide a better guest experience, but the truth is that they just hate 3rd world children...
Gaelig
exactly. seen them i France and Sweden too. the soap can also be used as shampoo.
KalliJ
Those are so unsanitary. There's no telling what previous guests put in there
Howfuckinhardisittogetausername
It puts the lotion on its skin
spongerX
Some North American hotel chains are doing this too.
Matsuuu
I think I haven't seen soap bar in Finnish hotel at least for a decade.
AgainstMethod
That seems like a much better system.
paragraph
What do they do with all the jizz they scrape off?
trigonman3
Candles
ChocolatePizzaMemes
Protein bars.
duffman3335
OP's mom gets it.
ambibot
Dirty jobs went to the processing facility and explains it all. It was interesting.
kressa778888
Conditioner.
DeakVanNyke
serve it for breakfast
jefd9000
That also gets recycled, its collected, reconditioned into fresh buckets of jizz and then donated directly to your mum
MadameTiffany
I wish I could give a comment an award. 😆❤️
mezzomike
dyllonian
I couldn't hold my laughter and now the rest of the train is looking at me funny. Thanks +1
smirdok
dhbrews
Giraffemoustache
locksstock
Bravo
graceinsheepsclothing
Came back to upvote
beepbeepmeow
TheJudgeHasItBackwards
tinyfootprints
I never thought to leave the soap in a hotel. I have always just kept them and used them. After all, I'm the one paying for them, ultimately. I keep the little shampoo bottles as well.
NullResult
Some shelters will take donations of unused hotel items! Personal care products are apparently always needed
gerf
I donate them to a women's shelter.
Grapeape2000
Always keep the bar soap - that's my soap now.
kaarbaakimgr
You (probably) already have soap at home, so you’re denying the recycling of your hotel soap. You’re basically killing kids in poor countries by doing this.
truthader
Did this need the /s? Is it missing the /s??
BlackCatCasper
My wife HATES that I do that
trigonman3
Why would she even care?
BlackCatCasper
Potentially gets the luggage soggy, just to get a couple more showers out of the tiny bar.
textilelover
Perhaps they've reached a critical mass of little plastic bottles and she's tired of the clutter?
ICannotStressThisEnoughBut
Creates clutter in the house?
trigonman3
How many times do they stay at a hotel? And you get rid of the bottles after you use the contents.
tinyfootprints
Aw, sorry to hear that. This is one activity I do that my wife actually supports.
rainbowsigns
But some hotels have really nice soaps and lotions, and why not? They just get thrown away otherwise
kamosey
Interesting. The last time I tried soap it actually caused diarrhea. With bubbles.
Conz
SoulN8
Maybe you have to be a child for it to work.
ProudAussie
At least your bowels were squeaky clean.
Tomigami
Dialrrhea
mitharas
Nice smelling diarrhea with bubbles? Sign me up!
RTK4740
Next time, don’t shave it on top of your pasta.
munchmunchmunch
woof
SwampAss13
When you’re running home and you feel some foam…
Ionico
When you're feeling deep trouble and you hear something bubble...
MechKelly
When you're flying in a jet and feel something wet
Nether91
That'sa moron
aholeisahole
When you're driving in a Chevy and feel something heavy...
CommentsThisTimeLastYear
I work nightaudit at a hotel, I'm going to speak with the head of housekeeping and the front-office manager about getting involved :)
Daxton
It was a success! We're also doing the shampoo+bodywash combo too :)
Flabort
This is why This Time Last Year exists. For the great followups like this.
MadamPuddifoot
Fucking yes! Also bless you, night audit paperwork sucks balls.
urboyevan2
DO THIS FRIEND
IronMagnus
You're replying to a bot who will do nothing.
OnePostCloserToAHappierLIfe
There's nothing wrong with getting caught up in the hope of the moment.
thatauzzieguy
What is night audit at a hotel? Curious to know.
rab337
Night audit is the night shift front desk person. Usually your night will consist of checking in the last few guests, auditing the financial documents at the end of the night, potentially sending certain reports to upper managers, and rolling the day to the next day.
thatauzzieguy
Thanks.
CommentsThisTimeLastYear
(originally by @Daxton on 2022-04-28 07:22:07)
CommentsThisTimeLastYear
Original top comment: /gallery/pf14EuY/comment/2221683517
CommentsThisTimeLastYear
Original post: /gallery/pf14EuY
HoneNathan
So howd it go @Daxton ?
Scrambles667
.
Daxton
Success!! Also doing the shampoo+bodywash combo sauce too!
HoneNathan
They recycle shampoo and bodywash too?
SciencePetsComputers
.
Cabreza
First of all, this is awesome. Second, if that chart shows all hygiene related deaths then there are likely other contributing factors to the reduction such as investment in infrastructure and development.
Marcass2021
This company was in an episode of Dirty Jobs.
FiftyShadesOfCauliflower
Yeah, any region on Earth accessible enough to have statistical disease & mortality records has seen a lot of development in the past 30 yrs
demagreg365
His company started in 2008, there's no change in the trend line that started 18 years prior to his company
madeejit
Plumbing, sewerage and a supply of clean water are up there with medicine for things that save lives.
Filanwizard
infrastructure is a part of hygiene really. clean water in and a safe way to carry wastewater out is part of the hygiene circle.
JCBalance
Yeah, the chart shows a 1 million decline in annual child death while the article credits him for tens of thousands of lives.
DarthDrizzt42
Bingo. Also most soap bars aren't even really soap, they're just moisturizer. I'd imagine that goes for hotel soap too
CocoPuppyFlyer
Most importantly, access to clean water saves lives.
MrNozzlelollipops
Yea soap isn't gonna make cholera in the water go away
MrListerTheFirst
or if you're cynical, that deaths among children from other causes are on the rise.
ghostofGracchusBabeuf
Way to go American schools, you’re doing your part to bring that number up
RefrigerateForQuality
ComoSeIguana
SomeScienceGuy
Or, if you are realistic, those are only the cases of death at that are KNOWN or REPORTED and the actual number is much much higher. Nonetheless this is important work and as a new grad nurse I commend it
IOnlyNeedOneBall
While the number might be higher, the failures are likely systematically consistent enough not to skew the chart.
Harryteeters
"Let them eat soap." -Third world factory owner
Imalwaysready
If it's good enough to clean the outside, shouldn't it be good enough to clean the inside, too?
MrNozzlelollipops
That's what I thought lmao
UmAcshually
Yup. The initiative started 14 years ago, so 2009 (probably later, as I'm sure it took time to ramp up from the person starting to wonder about this). The graph shows a steady, constant decrease from the early 1990s, with no visible acceleration after 2009. And, like, that's *okay*. The initiative probably "has helped" as donating a single bar of soap technically helps, and it's okay to be a drop in a bucket for a good thing. But "...has helped lead to..." still feels misleading.
RabidNutria
“The answer… has saved tens of thousands of lives.” This type of sensationalized blurb is really off putting for me. It seems disingenuous and over simplified. Don’t get me wrong the soap company seems awesome, but the article writer sounds like a 14 year old trying to make their essay seem IMPORTANT. Or like feel good clickbait. “Journalism without nuance is like frosting without cake” -Mark Twain*
RabidNutria
*just kidding, I made that up.
IOnlyNeedOneBall
Capitalism incentivizes them to mislead for more money and or awareness. It's disingenuous and greedy with a silver lining.
UmAcshually
Yeah. This is like... it's a good thing this is going on; it sounds like it reuses/recycles waste for a positive purpose. And if we can't reduce waste, reusing/reducing it is the next best thing. But it shouldn't try to diminish the decades-long international cooperation, national initiatives, and technological progress taking care of 99% of the heavy lifting. Or greenwash the hotel industry by unnecessarily buying and throwing away tons of waste.
TheSwedishCryptid
Reusing *is* waste reducing...! But yeah your point still stands