Author: Rachel Riordan

Welcoming Our Soap Aid Athlete Ambassadors 🌟

At Soap Aid, we believe in the power of partnership to drive meaningful change and today, we are incredibly proud to welcome three inspiring Australian athletes to our community as official Soap Aid ambassadors.

This exciting connection was made possible through Athletes for Hope Australia, and we are deeply grateful for their support in introducing us to such passionate, purpose-driven individuals who share our commitment to improving health outcomes for communities in need.

Meet Our Athlete Ambassadors

We’re thrilled to introduce:

🏀 Katie Ebzery – Australian Olympian and former Opals star, known for her leadership on and off the court
🏄‍♀️ Sophie McCulloch – Professional surfer and world tour athlete, representing resilience and determination Instagram
🚶‍♂️ Rhydian Cowley – Two-time Australian Olympian and elite racewalker, driven by discipline and community impact Instagram

Each of these athletes embodies the values at the heart of Soap Aid – leadership, resilience, and a deep commitment to health, community, and positive change.

Championing Hygiene Equity Together

Around the world, millions of people still lack access to basic hygiene, including something as simple as soap. Through the support of our athlete ambassadors, we’re able to amplify this message and bring greater awareness to the critical role hygiene plays in protecting health and preventing disease.

Together, Katie, Sophie and Rhydian will help us shine a light on the life‑changing impact of recycled soap, supporting healthier futures for communities experiencing hygiene vulnerability, both here in Australia and overseas. 🌍🧼

A Growing Movement

This marks an exciting new chapter for Soap Aid, as we welcome athlete ambassadors for the first time. Their voices, platforms, and passion will help strengthen our mission and inspire more people and organisations to get involved.

We’re honoured to have Katie, Sophie and Rhydian join us on this journey, and we look forward to working together to create lasting impact.

Welcome to the team! 💙

🧼 Introducing Soap Aid’s Hotel to Hands Programme

Soap Aid is proud to provide our Hotel to Hands Soap Recycling Programme to sustainably minded Airbnb, BnB, Holiday Homes, Hotels, Resorts and other accommodations on Waiheke Island, in partnership with Island Waste Collective Ltd and Waiheke Resources Trust. This programme empowers eco-friendly accommodation providers in New Zealand to reduce waste, restore dignity, and support a circular economy – all through the humble bar of soap.

🌍 Why Sustainable Tourism Matters

Across Aotearoa and Australia, hygiene poverty affects millions of people, especially in regional and Indigenous communities. Poor hand hygiene contributes to preventable illnesses like skin infections, diarrhoea, and respiratory disease. Soap Aid has already distributed nearly 4 million recycled bars of soap to vulnerable families and children – and your property can help grow that impact.

By joining this programme, your business becomes part of a sustainable tourism movement on Waiheke Island, helping to reduce landfill, improve community health outcomes, and inspire guests with your commitment to environmental responsibility.

💚 How It Works

• Subscribe for just $8.00 AUD per room per year
• Collect leftover soap from guest rooms
• Drop off your soap at the Island Waste Collective when ready
• Soap Aid recycles 100% of the soap into new bars and provides the brand new, hygienic bars for free to our Community Impact Partners for distribution to the communities, children and families that need it most. Our free soap is always distributed with hygiene education materials to ensure long-term positive impacts on community health outcomes.

✅ Get Involved Today

Visit soapaid.org/get-involved to register your property and start collecting soap. It’s easy, impactful, and deeply aligned with the values of Waiheke Island sustainability, eco-conscious hospitality, and community-led recycling initiatives.

Launching Soap Aid’s Camp to Community Programme

Soap Aid is proud to officially launch our Camp to Community programme – a purpose‑built soap recycling initiative designed specifically for camp and village accommodation environments across Australia. This innovative programme has been developed in partnership with Woollahra Group, a 100% Indigenous‑owned and Supply Nation Certified Australian business, alongside Sodexo and Rio Tinto, bringing together strong leadership in sustainability, procurement, and community impact.

 

A Closed‑Loop Recycling Solution for Camps and Villages

Through Camp to Community, camp and village sites procure Soap Aid’s Healthy Hands 60g virgin amenity soap bars via Woollahra Group. These high‑quality bars are used within on‑site accommodation, then carefully collected once their initial use is complete. Rather than going to landfill, the soap is transported to Soap Aid’s recycling facilities where it is cleaned, processed, and transformed into new hygienic recycled soap bars.

 

These recycled bars are then donated to Soap Aid’s Community Impact Partners, who distribute them to remote and Indigenous communities across Australia – supporting improved hygiene, disease prevention, and long‑term community wellbeing.

Designed for Impact, Built for Camp Environments

Camp to Community has been thoughtfully designed to meet the operational realities of camp and village sites, particularly within the resources sector. The programme creates a simple, scalable closed‑loop system that diverts 100% recyclable and sustainable bar soap from landfill, while delivering measurable social and environmental outcomes.

 

By embedding waste reduction directly into daily operations, Camp to Community supports practical sustainability initiatives, strengthens ESG and corporate responsibility commitments, and contributes to a circular economy approach where resources are reused for maximum benefit.

 

The programme supports environmental outcomes through waste reduction and circular recycling practices, social outcomes by improving hygiene and community health in remote and Indigenous communities, and governance outcomes through transparent, traceable impact reporting.

Collaboration at the Heart of Change

Soap Aid is deeply grateful to Woollahra Group, Sodexo, and Rio Tinto for their leadership in bringing Camp to Community to life. Their commitment demonstrates how strong partnerships across procurement, operations, and sustainability can deliver solutions that benefit both industry and community.

 

We also extend our sincere thanks to our partners – Santos, Civeo, Fortescue, Compass Group Australia, Liontown, and Endurance Mining — whose continued participation and support help drive meaningful impact through recycling initiatives and community health programmes.

Strengthening Sustainability and Community Wellbeing

Camp to Community builds on a shared belief that health and dignity should never be a privilege, and that waste can – and should – be reimagined as an opportunity for positive change.

 

Together with our partners, Soap Aid is proud to help reduce waste, strengthen sustainability outcomes, and support healthier futures for communities across Australia.

 

Soap Aid invites camps, villages, and resource‑sector accommodation providers to join the Camp to Community programme and be part of a practical solution for waste reduction, recycling initiatives, and meaningful community impact. By partnering with Soap Aid, organisations can strengthen sustainability initiatives, support ESG and corporate responsibility goals, and help deliver essential hygiene resources to remote and Indigenous communities across Australia.

 

Join Soap Aid as a partner today and help transform everyday soap waste into healthier futures – creating impact for communities, the environment, and your organisation. Get Involved – Soap Aid

Mike Matulick, Founder of Soap Aid

When I founded Soap Aid, the vision was simple: to turn waste into wellness. A leftover bar of soap isn’t rubbish, it’s a lifeline.

Today, that vision is stronger than ever because of the incredible support from our accommodation and corporate partners. You’ve helped us transform thousands of tonnes of soap into millions of lifesaving recycled soap bars.

Our impact is built on collaboration.

Over the years, we’ve distributed more than 4 million bars of recycled soap to communities in need, alongside hygiene education for lifelong behaviour change for continued good health. And in 2025 alone, we delivered 265,650 bars to families in desperate need of hygiene supplies. This is only possible because of our strength-based approach – working hand-in-hand with our Community Impact Partners who are on the ground, ensuring soap reaches those who need it most. They know their communities, and together we empower them to lead change.

The need is growing, and so is our commitment.

Every bar of soap means a child can stay healthy and go to school, a parent can work, and a family can thrive. Health and dignity should never be a privilege, and with your continued support, we can make that a reality.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Let’s keep redefining what waste means and ensure that in 2026, even more communities have access to the dignity of good health and hygiene.

Become a Partner

Soap Aid partners with environmentally conscious hotels, motels, Airbnb, accommodation providers, mining camps, and resource‑sector sites across Australia and New Zealand to deliver a practical sustainability initiative with real social impact.

 

Our recycling initiative helps organisations reduce waste to landfill, strengthen waste reduction efforts, and support ESG and corporate responsibility goals through a proven circular economy solution. By turning soap waste into lifesaving hygiene resources, partners create measurable impact for community health, environmental sustainability, and dignity.

 

Join Soap Aid as a partner today and be part of a simple, effective way to transform waste into wellness – one bar of soap at a time.

 

Contact us at save@soapaid.org or register your property today at Get Involved – Soap Aid

At Soap Aid, we are proud to work with Choice Hotels Asia-Pac™, a brand that truly champions sustainability and social responsibility in tourism.

 

By implementing Soap Aid’s Healthy Hands amenities range across their hotel portfolio, Choice Hotels Asia-Pac is not only offering guests high-quality, community-minded amenities – they are actively supporting Soap Aid’s mission to save lives and reduce waste. Through royalties received through Soap Aid’s Healthy Hands amenities range. we are able to fund our soap recycling operations, allowing us to get more recycled soap to vulnerable communities facing hygiene-related illnesses and health inequity.

 

Soap Aid’s Healthy Hands Amenities Range includes a range of products designed to support accommodation providers in their mission to save lives through improved hygiene. These products are part of the Healthy Hands amenities range, which is distributed by Hunter Amenities and supports humanitarian and environmental efforts in Australia, New Zealand, and around the world. The range includes Italian Blood Orange scented Shampoo, Conditioner, Body and Hand Wash and Body and Hand Lotion, all packaged in 100% recycled and recyclable bottles.

 

Several Choice Hotels Asia-Pac properties have gone the extra mile by joining our Hotel to Hands Soap Recycling Programme, diverting their used Soap Aid soap bars to keep them out of landfill. Once the leftover bars are recycled at Soap Aid’s soap recycling plant in Victoria, they are donated via our Community Impact Partners directly into the hands of families who need them most, along with hygiene education for long term improvements in community health.

 

Properties opting to use Soap Aid’s Healthy Hands amenities soap bars are making a conscious effort to improve their environmental and community impact. Why is it important to choose bar soap over liquid?

 

• Lower environmental footprint: Bar soap uses less packaging and fewer chemicals.
• Reduced plastic waste: No single-use bottles ending up in landfill, and no bulky plastic refill containers that often don’t make it to recycling.
• Cost-effective and hygienic: A smart choice for accommodations committed to eco-friendly practices.

 

By choosing bar soap and recycling it, accommodations are doubling down on sustainability – reducing waste, cutting emissions, and helping vulnerable communities access life-saving hygiene.

 

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac’s Impact So Far (as of November 2025):

 

Thanks to Choice Hotels Asia-Pac’s commitment to sustainability and community, with royalties received from our Healthy Hands amenities range, Soap Aid has been able to achieve the following:

 

• 136,740 recycled soap bars provided to communities in Australia and overseas
• 19.88 tCO₂e emissions prevented from entering the atmosphere
• 2,849 families supplied with a 12-month supply of soap
• 11,395 children supported with a 12-month supply of soap
• 5,014 lives saved, through a 44% reduction in hygiene-related deaths through access to hygiene supplies and proper hand washing.
• $97,085 cost saved to communities

 

Choice Hotels Asia-Pac proves that taking a community and environmentally minded approach to selecting something as simple as bathroom amenities can have extraordinary results.

 

A major thank you to Choice Hotels Asia-Pac for leading the way in sustainable hospitality and showing that tourism can be a force for good.

Why Circular Economy Solutions Matter for Australian and New Zealand Accommodations

Every day, accommodations discard thousands of partially used soap bars, contributing to landfill waste, plastic pollution, and unnecessary carbon emissions. But what if that waste could be transformed into something lifesaving?

Soap Aid’s Hotel to Hands soap recycling programme is a powerful example of the circular economy in action and our partner Quest Geelong Central is showing how accommodations can lead the way.

Tourism Geelong and The Bellarine sees the significant social and environmental value of our programme! Sustainability Case Study: How Quest Geelong Central reduced waste – Tourism Greater Geelong & The Bellarine

 

 

What is the Hotel to Hands Programme?

The Hotel to Hands programme is a sustainable soap recycling initiative that collects gently used soap from accommodations, reprocesses them into new, hygienic bars at our recycling plant in Dandenong.

Utilising our network of Community Impact Partners, we distribute the recycled bars free of charge to communities in need, both locally and globally, alongside hygiene education materials for lifelong change.

By joining the programme, accommodations:

• Divert waste from landfill
• Reduce plastic use and emissions
• Support public health and hygiene
• Align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

 

Why Hard Soap Bars Are the Sustainable Choice

Many accommodations still use liquid soap in plastic bottles—an option that contributes significantly to plastic waste and carbon emissions. In contrast, hard soap bars are:

• 100% recyclable
• Plastic-free
• Lower in emissions
• Longer lasting and more hygienic

By switching to hard soap and recycling it through Soap Aid, accommodations can reduce their plastic waste by up to 25% and make a measurable environmental impact.

 

Case Study: Quest Geelong Central

Located in the heart of Geelong, Quest Geelong Central joined the Hotel to Hands programme in 2024.

Through our soap recycling programme, they have diverted their waste soap to us for recycling in Dandenong, and we have been able to support local organisations, such as St Mary’s Parish Pantry, a Geelong-based charity supporting families in need.

Read the full case-study here: Case Study: Quest Geelong Central – A Soap Aid Champion in Action

 

Why Soap Recycling Matters for Your Accommodation

Whether you manage a sustainably minded boutique B&B or a large hotel chain, joining Soap Aid’s Hotel to Hands programme is a simple, cost-effective way to recycle your waste and meet your sustainability goals. It’s also a great way to:

• Enhance your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• Engage your team in meaningful action
• Appeal to eco-conscious travellers
• Contribute to a cleaner, healthier planet

 

✅ Ready to Join the Movement?

Soap Aid partners with accommodations to recycle their waste from across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia and New Zealand.

If you’re ready to reduce waste, support communities, and become a Soap Aid Champion, register today: Get Involved – Soap Aid