With the COVID-19 crisis, global tourism came to a halt. The effect of the pandemic with its successive confinements during these two years had a significant impact on our operations.
This situation has presented us with new challenges to which we have found answers that will materialize in 2022…
It has been a year of hard work, but we end it with joy and pride to know that our contribution to the fight against global warming and to the access to hygiene of people weakened by wars and the economic situation has increased again.
The pandemic has had a significant impact on our soap collection. In 2021, we managed to collect 1,438 kilograms (about 48,000 small soaps of about 30 grams) from hotels discarded by our partners in Switzerland and 655 kilograms in France. Since we started we have collected 28 tons in the two countries. And thus 57.7 tons of CO2 were saved.
Since we started in 2015 in Switzerland and in 2017 in France, we distributed more than 190.600 recycled soaps to people in need within the two countries, Madagascar, refugee camps on the Greek islands of Samos and Lesbos, and to refugees living between the Bosnian and Croatian borders. We also donated soaps for the refugee asylum in Basel.
We count 283 partner hotels in both countries. This year we gained 74 in the Alpine country and 22 in France.
Our recycling program are being conducted in our two recycling ateliers: Wohnwerk in Basel and in France, ESAT Adapei Papillons Blancs moved our atelier from Mulhouse to Colmar. Here 13 adults with disabilities carefully recycle the discarded hotel soaps into beautiful new bars.
