Given the wide availability of cheap travel options, including cheapairplane tickets, discount hotel rooms,and cheapvacation packages, and the fact that similar hotel chains tend tooffer competitive (i.e., comparable prices), it may make sense for you to startnarrowing your hotel preferences based of their sustainability practices.
More travel companies are forming partners with a growingroster of one-for-one retailers to make a difference. One-for-one companies give charitably forevery sale they make. Toms Shoes startedthe trend years ago and the practice has been replicated by other retailbusinesses including Bombas socks and Vessel Bags. Now select hotel guests are being given theopportunity to extend the buy one, donate one thinking to their hotel soap.
One Canadian brand of soap is expanding its presence in theU.S. and leading the way with a partnership that donated over 1.4 million barsof soap in 2018.
In some parts of the world, preventable diseases aresometimes deadly due to a lack of proper hand washing, making a simple bar ofsoap an unbelievably valuable donation.
Soapbox Soaps and Delta Hotels by Marriott recently came toan agreement to benefit both charities and travelers. For every hotel room Delta stocks withSoapbox Soaps (which is now in all of Deltas 50 properties) Soapbox donatesone bar. Recently Marriott arranged forits loyalty members to be able to redeem their rewards points for a chance totravel on a mission trip to India, if they so choose.
Delta selected Soapboxs soap because it wanted a premiumbath amenity and liked Soapboxs social responsibility.
In addition to creating natural, high-end soaps and lotions,Soapbox works with 35 charities across 65 countries, including the U.S., togive away its soap bars. These donationshelp families in America and save lives in places like Haiti, India, andUganda.
Each Delta Hotel bathroom receives one whole amenity kit,prior to a guests stay, resulting in a donation of one bar of soap. Delta Hotel guests can enter one of SoapboxsHope Codes, which are stamped on each amenity kit, on the companys websiteto see exactly where their matching donation has been made and why.
A recent stay at a Delta Hotel had a Hope Code on the amenitykit which connected the guests stay to CAN Baltimore Soap Donation inMaryland. Soapboxs Baltimore partner isClean the World which recycles leftover soap from hotels and donates cleaned,reformed bars to be given out at a local food bank.