I’m guessing you are like me in one aspect. Hotels that we stay at have all kinds of cute shampoo, lotion and body wash bottles. So of course, I have to bring back any I can. After all, if they are free, and if we are paying for them in the cost of the room, it seems foolish to leave them behind. I even worked out all kinds of ways to maximize the number of bottles they’d give me.
The hotels have done their part by adding more and types of liquids in the bottles. I’ve seen shampoo, conditioner, shampoo with conditioner, lotion, hand lotion, body lotion, hand wash, body wash, hair cleanser… After all, if we take them home, then they are great advertising for the hotels. So they are trying to outdo one another.
We travel a fair amount, some for work, some for vacation. So we pick up a lot of these bottles. Its getting to the point that we have them all over. In travel kits, in drawers, in the shower, the sink, in luggage… Each taking up a little space, each needing to be organized, cleaned and eventually recycled. When we moved house, I was astounded by how many we had, and the different places we’d stashed them.
Some of them were more than 10 years old. Many of them, particularly the lotion bottles were “past their prime…” And they are not what I want. I would never spend money at a store to get the shampoo / lotion / conditioner I got in a hotel.
It got me to thinking. These little hotel bottles are not worth it. Anything we have at home, simply by sitting there is costing us time and money. We have to find a place to store them, use them up, recycle them when they are empty. Its simply not worth it. It doesn’t matter that they are free.
And it also got me thinking about the environment. I have no idea how many millions of these little bottles there are plugging up the planet, but it could not be good. It takes energy and resources to make each little bottle, pack them, ship them, take them back home and finally recycle them. So reducing the amount in use is good, environmentally.
Its up to us, the hotel patrons. The hotels are going to keep replenishing the bottles every time we use them. They can’t afford not to. So here is what I am going to do. I will carry my own shampoo and conditioner, you know, the one that I like, and use those.
And stop bringing back stuff I don’t really like. Its simply not worth it.
My church collects these for the homeless. So if you have extras lying around taking up space in your home, drop them off at the St Joseph of Cupertino church.