SFH #006: Saving, Sanitizing, and Supplying Recycled Soap to the Developing World

Today we're going to be speaking with Samir Lakhani who is the Founder and Execute Director of The Eco-Soap Bank.

The Eco-Soap Bank is a humanitarian and environmental non-profit organization working to save, sanitize and supply recycled soap to the developing world. Their work has three objectives:

1. Contribute a highly cost-effective hygiene product to improve health in Cambodia.
2. Significantly reduce the waste generated by the tourism industry.
3. Provide livelihoods to Cambodian women with no other reliable source of income.

They have a 4 step process to carry out their mission:

1. The Eco-Soap Bank collects gently used soap bars from hotels and guesthouses in Cambodia.
2. Collected soap bars are sanitized and reprocessed into new bars.
3. Soap bars are donated to hospitals, health clinics, schools, orphanages, and village communities in need of hygiene.
4. All soap donations are paired with hand washing training to ensure that communities remain safe from preventable illnesses.

So far they've made 186,698 soap donations 25,910 pounds of waste have been recycled, and 666,562 people have been served.