Shawn Seipler of Orlando, Florida, founded Clean the World 12 years ago to fight life-threatening illnesses in children who had no access to soap and water. He started by collecting discarded guest-room soaps from a single hotel in his neighborhood. Today Clean the World has recycled 63 million bars of amenity-sized soap from more than 8,000 hotels and resorts and distributed them to 130 countries. The COVID-19 pandemic dealt Clean the World a dramatic blow in its programming and growth strategy. Lodging Leader’s introductory episode in its special series, “Happy To Be Of Service: Stories of hospitality giving back,” features Seipler who talks about Clean the World’s beginnings and how a hospitality industry in recovery has helped the nonprofit pick up the pieces and move forward with its life-saving mission.

344 | Clean the World: Recycling hotel soap prepares nonprofit to save lives in pandemic

Lodging Leaders is a weekly podcast that examines news and topics trending in the hospitality industry, shared through engaging stories told by co-hosts Jon Albano and Judy Maxwell, and amplified by interviews with experts and other thought leaders.