Down to Earth: Clean the World - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Down to Earth: Clean the World

PISMO BEACH - A Central Coast hotel is doing its part to cut down on waste while helping those in need.

One small soap bar at a time, the Pismo Lighthouse Suites is making a big difference around the world. Erik Mund is the General Manager of the hotel. "Its really scary to see how much soap we can accumulate so quickly."

 Rather than throw it away, the used soaps are recycled.  "Once the soaps are sanitized they are sent to impoverished countries around the world, " Mund explains.

It's part of the "Clean the World" program.

 According to it's web site, soap and proper hand washing have been proven effective in stopping the spread of certain diseases, like cholera, and pneumonia, the top two killers of children under 5 worldwide.

 Since it began in 2009, the program has collected, recycled and distributed more than 6 million bars of soap to more than 40 countries, and to homeless shelters here in the United States.

 "We're diverting all this soap from the landfills, and its going to these headquarters and eventually to people who need it around the world," says Mund.

The Pismo Lighthouse Suites alone will be diverting one ton of waste from the landfills annually.

While it is just one of more than five hundred hotels across the country taking part in the program, it is the first here on the Central Coast.

 Mund says,  "it's something we are proud of and challenge other hotels to do the same."