Blog Tag: hygiene

Cycle some soap with Soap Cycling

Posted by Peter MUIR

While the number of young children dying from pneumonia and diarrhea can be reduced by simply washing hands with soap, there are many hotels throwing away slightly used soap that could be used to address this issue. That is where Soap Cycling comes in.

Soap Cycling works with the hospitality industry to collect, sanitize and recycle slightly used soaps and other sanitation amenities. These life-saving items are then distributed to underprivileged families and schools in disadvantaged communities around the world, particularly Asia.

You can get involved in this organisation’s work by volunteering at their centre in HK on Saturdays.  For more details on how you can join, click here.

Box of Hope Toothpaste Drive

Posted by Peter MUIR

Imagine that you found it difficult to afford toothpaste.

There are many families in our region who have less access to resources, and as such find it difficult to buy everyday items such as toothpaste.

Next week (Monday 31st – Nov 4th) secondary students are asked to donate a tube of toothpaste that will be collected and distributed as a part of Box of Hope. SImply bring in a tube of new toothpaste and drop it off in the foyer before school. Your toothpaste will then be distributed to those with less acces to resources in HK and Asia.

To add a new element to this drive, the D Community Engagement Captains are adding a competition to see which house donates the least. That’s right, the house with the least toothpaste wins and gets house points! So bring in some toothpaste next week, place it in the collection box for one of the other houses, and know that you have done a little bit to help someone smile.

The Tippy Tap – creativity in service

Posted by Peter MUIR

Cool Earth, an organisation that works alongside indigenous villages to halt rainforest destruction, has put forward an interesting idea – that the health of the rainforest depends on the health of local people. Spurred on by the facts about the need for hygiene, which claims such as having somewhere to wash your hands with soap and water can reduce potentially fatal illness by half, the group has introduced the ’Tippy Tap’ to the communities they work with.

The Tippy Tap is a smart, cost-effective way to increase hygiene. Consider the creativity and initiative, and simplicity, in developing this tool that aims to improve communities. How might you use creativity and the design cycle in your community engagement efforts? The Tippy Tap provides you with a bit of inspiration to do so.

Toothpaste Drive

Posted by Peter MUIR

Bring in some toothpaste to help oral hygiene in the less-privileged. Collection at the school entrance this week, Nov 2-5th

So Others Are Protected (SOAP)

Posted by Peter MUIR

Sydney Kamen is the founder of So Others Are Protected (SOAP), a self-empowerment initiative focused on issues of sanitation and the spread of disease in Southeast Asia. Sydney was a young high-school student when she started SOAP as a result of learning about marginalized youth-at-risk along the Thailand-Burma border. SOAP collects discarded soap from luxury hotels in Southeast Asia that are then recycled and reshaped into new bars of soap to produce a sustainable source of sanitation in communities. SOAP works with rural communities to promote sanitation, health education, emphasize community capacity building, and provide an alternative livelihood for at-risk women and girls.

Soap-cycling

Posted by Peter MUIR

Every single day, thousands of children die from diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea– many of which can be prevented by simply washing hands with soap. Nevertheless, most hotels in Asia discard the millions of bars of soap their guests leave behind.

Soap Cycling has a three-part mission: to improve sanitation and hygiene in underprivileged regions, to increase green living and waste reduction, and to provide education on sanitation and leadership.

This nonprofit organisation retrieves hotel soap and distributes it to underprivileged families and schools in communities within Asia and around the world. Soap Cycling collaborates with the hospitality industry to collect and sanitise slightly used soaps and other sanitation amenities.

There are a few different ways that you can get involved:

1. Donate

2. Provide Soap

3. Volunteer

4. Student Internships

5. Spread the Word

Sign up for any of the weekly Soap Cycling events here