clean the world press kit
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Clean the World Press Kit - Fall 2012TRANSCRIPT
Saving lives one soap bar at a time
Samantha Dilday - Anna Hays - Madelaine Genna
Saving lives, one bar of soap at a time
Dear ONE Producers:
It’s hard to imagine a world without soap. We use it to wash our clothes, cars, homes and bodies. We even throw away 1 million bars of excess soap in the U.S. every day. So, it’s difficult to imagine that more than 95,000 children die every day because of illnesses that could have been prevented by washing with bar soap.
Clean the World, an Orlando-based nonprofit recognized this problem three years ago. Since then, it has sanitized, recycled and re-distributed more than 10 million bars of soap both locally and worldwide. Its mission is to save lives by distributing soap to 45 countries around the world, while educating children about proper hygiene.
A segment about this local organization’s dedication to saving and improving lives while helping keep the environment clean would be an ideal fit for ONE. This unique organization perfectly fits with your three “e”s. The segment could educate viewers on the recycling process, engage them by showing the impact its had on people locally and worldwide, and entertain them with a story about its unique beginning.
If you’d like to speak with executive director and co-founder Shawn Seipler about how he grew a soap recycling project in a friend’s garage into an international charity, please feel free to contact us directly. We even have a collection of footage and photos of the Clean the World team distributing soap to children in other countries and teaching them about hygiene. Additionally, the Christian Service Center of Orlando, a charity that has distributed soap from Clean the World to the local homeless population, has agreed to participate in the segment. We can also arrange a tour of the Clean the World facility, where your crew can film the soap recycling process.
We’ll call you Monday, April 30 to see how we can help you feature this organization in an upcoming segment. Thanks very much for your consideration. We look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,
Samantha Dilday, Anna Hays and Madelaine GennaPUR 3100 students
Local homeless receive hygiene kits
ORLANDO, Fla. (April 23, 2012) – More than 800 local homeless individuals recently received
hygiene kits containing soap, bottled amenities
and vanity kits at the Christian Service Center.
The kits were provided by hospitality partners
participating in the Clean the World program, a
non-profit that sanitizes, recycles and redistributes
soap across the globe to those in need.
“Keeping your body clean is a basic need, and
Clean the World has helped us distribute more
than 3,000 hygiene kits this year to homeless
individuals, families and students in local schools,” said Mary Lynn Walker, director of
development and communications at the Christian Service Center. “We’re impressed that Clean
the World thinks globally, but also acts locally to help people in need.”
Founders Shawn Seipler and Paul Till faced financial hardships in founding CTW but with
prominent hospitality partners, such as the Peabody Orlando and Walt Disney World Resorts,
they have made a strong impact on the Central Florida community.
“It’s actually putting yourself at risk and acting on your idea that’s the incredible thing about their
story,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
With the capacity to produce 80,000 bars of soap a day, the CTW headquarters in Orlando
has 18 full-time employees and constantly has openings for volunteers. CTW has hospitality
partners in 50 states across the U.S. and in 10 Canadian provinces.
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News ReleaseFor immediate release.
Internationally, CTW distributes soap to more than 45 countries and frequently leads trips where
employees, volunteers and hospitality programs assist in distributing soap in disadvantaged
communities.
Shawn Seipler and Paul Till co-founded CTW in 2008. The two have grown the company from
a small, home based operation to an international charity with recycling centers in Orlando, Las
Vegas, Toronto and Vancouver. The company has distributed more than 10 million bars of soap
and has more than 1,300 hospitality partners in North America alone. To learn more about CTW,
please visit http://www.cleantheworld.org.
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Kits-PUR 3100 students-2
Entrepreneur saves lives using recycled soapOn a business trip to Minnesota in
2008, Shawn Seipler began to wonder what happened to all the excess hotel courtesy soaps he was so used to seeing during his travels.
After discovering that most of them wind up in landfills, he quit his job as a six-figure earning vice president of sales and marketing at a global ecommerce company and devoted his time to finding alternative uses for the soap that would reduce waste.
He joined forces with Paul Till, a co-worker from his ecommerce job, and the two made discoveries that would shape the purpose of their prodding. They found that two of the top three
leading causes of death among children under five, acute respiratory illness and diarrheal disease, could be prevented by washing with simple bar soap.
With this discovery, the pair co-founded Clean the World, a nonprofit headquartered in Orlando, Fla. that collects hospitality soap and shampoo and recycles them, to both prevent needless landfill waste and to save thousands of lives.
Initially, their goal seemed lofty at best. Getting hotels onboard was a challenge. In order to run the plant they needed to charge a tax-deductible fee of 65 cents per room, per month. The nominal charge was a barrier to getting hotels to donate.
After many rejections, The Peabody Orlando got on board and with their support, many other chains followed.
Three years after its inception, CTW distributes soap to 45 countries, including the U.S. and is working vigorously to educate the underprivileged about personal hygiene.
“Our goal is to create a hygiene revolution around the world,” Seipler said.Although still in its infancy, Seipler has expanded CTW tremendously since starting in
his friend’s garage. The Miami native has distributed more than 9.5 million bars of soap to communities around the world and in the U.S. The organization has partnered with more than 1,200 hotels throughout the country to collect tons of pounds a soap a day. The Orlando plant processes more than 40,000 bars a day.
In 2011 he was selected for the “40 Under 40” people to watch list by Connect magazine. The organization also won the 2011 Sustainable Florida Award for Best Practices Leadership Award. Seipler now speaks at conferences to educate professionals on how to create a sustainable and eco-friendly business.
“I truly hope that our green and socially responsible programs are a standard in the global hospitality industry,” Seipler said. “And more importantly, in 10 years I hope that Clean the World’s work on the international humanitarian front is being recognized as one of the reasons diarrheal disease and deaths caused by a lack of proper hygiene are quickly moved off the top 10 killer list.”
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The company is now branching out to additional eco-friendly programs including plastics recycling, green construction materials, aquaculture and hydroponic food production. Seipler predicts the company will extend to other green products in the future.
Creating this nonprofit from scratch was a huge risk for Seipler. During the first year and a half of the operation he earned no salary, lost one of his two homes, and was borrowing money from his parents to feed his wife and four children. But, after more than a year of perseverance, CTW gained the support it needed.
Had he thrown in the towel, the 375 tons of soap, shampoo and other hotel amenities CTW has collected since its inception might be sitting in a landfill somewhere instead of cleaning hands and saving lives around the world.
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Seipler-PUR 3100 students-2
Paul Till is the co-founder and managing director of Clean the World. Prior to establishing Clean the World, he obtained majored in psychology and minored in business administration at the University of Guam. And in 2009, he switched his career path as a regional sales executive for an ecommerce data management company in order to join forces with co-founder Shawn Seipler. Together, they created Clean the World’s mission.
While Till was researching ways to recycle and repackage the soap to send to foreign markets, he stumbled across the shocking statistics of people dying because of lack of personal products. He discovered that washing regularly with bar soap, even with unclean water, can prevent more than 60% of deaths from hygiene-related illnesses. Used soaps were the cure, and he was determined to deliver the bars to the needy.
After Clean the World’s inception, Till received no salary for a year and a half. This forced him to sell his car, put his dream home up for rent and borrow $35,000 from his new in-laws. But after an eye-opening trip to Haiti where he and Seipler distributed soap and witnessed first-hand the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, Till clung to the nonprofit. His perseverance has helped the organization distribute around 10 million bars of recycled soap in 45 countries.
When discussing diarrheal disease, Till is serious about putting a stop to the killer. “The story I would like to be able to tell in the future is not one of death and despair but rather one of hope and accomplishment,” said Till. “We must change this. We can change this. Together, we will change this.”
Paul TillCo-Founder and Managing Director
Clean the World
Till (left), Seipler (right).
Professional Biography
The History of Clean the World
- While staying in a hotel on a business trip in 2008, CTW founder Shawn Seipler got the idea of sterilizing and recycling the leftover soap from hotel rooms.
- Seipler first wanted to turn this venture into a profitable business.
- Seipler’s business partner, Paul Till, was researching recycling methods and found that millions of children’s lives could be saved each year if they simply used soap and water to wash their hands.
- The two decided to form a nonprofit and partner with hotels for soap donations. They started slowly, working out of their garage and using personal savings to finance their project.
- A partnership with the recycling-friendly Peabody Orlando gave the company credibility and persuaded other hotels to partner with CTW as well. This allowed them to open their headquarters in Orlando, Fla.
Current Clean the World Company Description
- After only three years, they have helped to divert more than 1.4 million pounds of hotel waste from landfills and have a growing list of more than 1,300 hospitality partners in North America.
- This year, Seipler and Till opened the Las Vegas Recycling Operation Center, which will act as a collection point for the western U.S. It will also act as a distribution point locally and internationally.
- On Earth Day 2011 CTW and Starwood announced a corporate sponsorship. Since then, Starwood had contributed 278,000 pounds of hygiene products to CTW and has enrolled 150 of their properties with the CTW recycling program.
- CTW has recently reached a milestone by globally distributing more than 10 million bars of soap.
Involvement with the Central Florida Community
- In early 2012, CTW distributed more than 800 hygiene kits to the homeless at the Christian Service Center in Orlando, Florida.
- In the past year CTW has worked with the Christian Service Center to distribute more than 3,000 hygiene kits to people in need.
Clean the World Company Fact Sheet
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International Involvement
- CTW has two recycling centers located in Canada; one in Toronto and the other in Vancouver.
- Since its inception they have donated soap to more than 45 countries.
- In March 2012, CTW and its hospitality partners took a trip to Guatemala to distribute soap to those living in disadvantaged communities. Nearly 15,000 bars of soap were distributed.
- In January 2010, CTW flew to Haiti to assist with the earthquake relief effort. They distributed CTW soap, medical supplies, food and water to clinics, hospitals and orphanages.
Main Diseases Clean the World Fights
- The two leading causes of death of children under age five are acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease. The most common causes of acute respiratory infections and diarrheal disease are viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. Regularly washing hands with soap and water is one of the most effective and simple ways to prevent such infections.
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CTW Fact Sheet-PUR 3100 students-2
History of the Christian Service Center
Founded in 1977, the CSC’s mission is to unite Central Florida and eradicate poverty by providing services and resources that promote hope, well-being and empowerment.
Services Provided by the Christian Service Center
The CSC has four interdependent programs to meet the needs of those struggling in the Central Florida community.
1. Family and Emergency Services provide immediate assistance to those in unexpected financial crisis. Its main goal is to prevent families who are facing homelessness from losing their homes.
2. The Daily Bread program serves one meal a day, six days a week and allows anyone who is hungry to eat for free.
3. Fresh Start is a short-term residential counsel designed to enable men to move from a place of helplessness to a place of confidence and strength.
4. KidsFOCUS is an after-school alternative for children in economically challenged families. It strives to include the whole family and provides tutoring, academic monitoring and family assistance.
New Initiatives of the Christian Service Center
The In-School Pantry Pilot Project, now known as the “Love Pantry,” is a new initiative of the CSC, in cooperation with Orange County Public Schools, to provide struggling families with emergency food. The food is distributed through a group of 13 elementary schools for the Fall Semester of the 2011 School Year.
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The Christian Service Center Fact Sheet
Contact Information
Samantha Dilday407-620-5146
Madelaine Genna321-652-1870
Anna Hays727-642-1142