The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Fla., leads all U.S. -based Starwood Hotels and Resorts  properties in amenities contributions through the Clean the World soap collecting and recycling program.

In two full years, the resort has collected more than 24,000 pounds of soaps and bottled amenities (shampoos, conditioners, body washes, lotions and gels) – the most out of 126 Starwood hotels in the program. Starwood Hotels and Resorts became the first corporate partner in the Clean the World program on Earth Day, April 22, 2011.

“The housekeeping team has been the driving force behind our success with this program,” says Michelle Gash, restaurant event manager and sustainability champion. “It’s amazing to watch their pride in helping people in need. We are glad to be partners with Clean the World and to be able to see our contribution going to help prevent disease and sickness in less fortunate countries.”

Orlando, Fla.-based Clean the World is the global leader in hotel amenities recycling, and serves as the industry standard with its ission to collect and deliver hygiene products to stop the spread of preventable diseases.

In less than three years, Clean the World has collected, recycled and distributed more than 9 million bars of soap and more than 600,000 pounds of bottled amenities in the United States, Canada and more than 45 countries, including. This effort has helped divert more than 1.2 million pounds of hotel waste from polluting local landfills.

Each day, 9,000 children around the world die from diseases such as acute respiratory illness and diarrheal diseases that can be prevented by washing with bar soap. Clean the World Foundation has a mission to put soap in the hands of people who need it most — to improve hygiene and sanitation conditions, to lessen the impact of disease, and to promote better hygiene and living conditions worldwide.

“Something so simple can save so many lives,” says Shawn Seipler, CEO and co-founder at Clean the World. “Westin Diplomat continues to be a tremendously generous and supportive partner, as have all of the Starwood properties, and they are helping us deliver on our promise to collect, recycle and distribute much-needed hygiene products to communities so desperately in need. We’re turning trash into treasure and saving lives in the process. That’s a powerful partnership.”