Recycling Soap, Building Hope

Ping Edmunds and Aveen Hallissey spent much of their freshman year at East Hampton High School researching something they say many people take for granted: soap.

As part of a project in Joshua Odom’s English class, the two students said they learned that a lack of proper hygiene is the third leading cause of neonatal deaths in the developing world.

“Half of the hygiene-related deaths could be prevented if people had basic knowledge of how important washing your hands is,” Ping said.

That’s what led Ping and Aveen, who will be juniors come September, to launch Soap for Hope, a project in which they recycle used soaps from local hotels and inns.

The process took some trial and error at first, but they have it down to a science now. They first disinfect the used soaps, essentially washing the soap with other soap. Then they shave off a layer using a vegetable peeler, melt all the remaining pieces together, re-mold them into a new bar of soap, and wrap them in wax paper.

From there, they send their soaps to an orphanage in Cambodia, and have plans to send them to other places in need, too, as they expand their soap-making project.

When their first delivery arrived at the orphanage, Aveen said, the caretakers had to teach the children how to properly wash their hands and bodies. “The girls especially really loved having their own soap and their own beauty routine,” she said. “It’s something we don’t even think about.”

“It’s in every store or household in America,” Ping added. “You don’t realize the effect it has on your life when it’s so easily at reach.”

From the first 1,000 bars of discarded soap they collected, they were able to make about 300 fresh ones during their sophomore year. Just about the only disagreement they have had was how to wrap them. “Aveen likes to pack it like a candy-style wrapper, but I like to wrap it like a Christmas present,” Ping said.

Adam Fine, the high school principal, said the administration endorses Soap for Hope. “I am very proud of the work Ping and Aveen have undertaken,” he said in an email. “Their commitment to underprivileged people is very impressive. My hope is that this program continues to grow over the next year. . . . It is great to support student-generated ideas and initiatives.”

So far, businesses such as Gurney’s Inn and the Panoramic View Resort in Montauk have contributed soaps, as have other students and Girl Scout Troop 596 of Amagansett.

The project has given Ping and Aveen a boost of confidence.

“It didn’t feel like it was possible for us when we first started out,” Aveen said. “We thought we didn’t have enough resources, we didn’t know enough people, or because we’re not adults then we couldn’t accomplish this. Then we started thinking in reality. If other kids can do things like this, why couldn’t we?”