Plastic Reduction: A Key Driver of Gilchrist & Soames Global Sustainability Strategy

For more than half a century, hotels have provided their guests with a wide range of single-use amenity bottles for hair and body. These ubiquitous bottles have been used to package everything from shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body lotion, bubble bath, and beyond, further enabling the throwaway culture.

Launching our first dispenser over 18 years ago indicates our initial commitment to developing initiatives to enhance environmental sustainability. Since then, we have increased the pursuit of eco-friendly practices in all aspects of product development, from ingredients and packaging to responsible sourcing and manufacturing.

As part of Gilchrist & Soames’ Reduce – Reuse – Recycle initiative, plastic reduction has been a key focus over the last several years, recognizing the harmful impact single-use amenity bottles have on the environment and committing to an overall reduction in plastic.

By transitioning customers into large bottle formats, which include dispenser solutions, gallon options, hand wash pouches, and bag-in-a-box, Gilchrist & Soames reported a reduction of more than 168 million single-use bottles in fiscal year 2023. This incredible milestone translates into nearly 2.1 million pounds of plastic. For context, when comparing G&S plastic reduction to the equivalent 16.9 ounce plastic water bottles, this equates to 33.6 million water bottles.

Staying true to our travel legacy, if you connected those water bottles end-to-end, they would span 4,246 miles (6,833Km), reflecting the approximate distance from Plainfield, Indiana to Hana, Maui, Hawaii, USA or Toronto, Canada to Bologna, Italy.

Find your region and see how far you could travel with our plastic reduction!