Did you know that 1.4 million deaths could be prevented each year by hand washing with soap?

On Tuesday, July 23, 2013, The Sustainable Investment Group Team took time out of their busy schedules to volunteer at The Global Soap Project, a Norcross, GA based organization with a global reach that is expanding rapidly. When we arrived at their warehouse, Eric, the plant manager, gave us a tour of the facility and explained what they do. Their #1 mission is to reduce waste and save lives. The Global Soap Project achieves this by creating new soap from the partially used and discarded soap bars from hotels. The repurposed bar soap is then distributed to 30 countries on four continents to people who need it the most.

While the SIG team sorted and cleaned up used bars of soap with vegetable peelers we learned a little about the necessity of soap in our everyday lives. When villages throughout the internal countries in Africa have outbreaks of disease, particularly diarrhea, it can be fatal if left untreated—especially to infants and children. Volunteers from Global Soap arrive in these villages and teach the villagers hygiene and leave them with enough soap to last two weeks. When the soap is gone they must see a doctor to get more soap. This is exactly how organizations like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) gets involved in these areas, tracks outbreaks, and then provides a cure that saves lives.

If you are interested in this organization, and are wondering what you can do— here are a few ways you can get involved:

Tell a hotel. Tell you favorite hotel about the Global Soap Project and direct them to the website where they can register and become a supplier. There is no fee to participate in this program.

Fundraising. Get creative and start your own project to help Global Soap raise funds. They have had supporters conduct dinner parties, auctions, car washes, bake sales, booths at neighborhood festivals – you name it. Every effort helps them get soap into the hands of the people who need it most!

SIG believes strongly in the quality of life and is committed to serving our community by doing four volunteer projects a year. This was our second volunteer event for 2013 coordinated by Anna-Maria, our office manager. If you are looking for a unique volunteer project for your group this is a great choice, the SIG team recommends it. To see more photos of this event please checkout our Facebook page.

© 2013 Sustainable Investment Group (SIG). All rights reserved.