Hilton Worldwide has found another way to give its surplus and gently used items a second life. The hotel chain is the latest firm to partner with Good360, a nonprofit that channels product donations from companies to charities.
Non-perishable goods likely to come from Hilton properties could range from furniture, bedding and appliances to office equipment, a corporate spokeswoman said yesterday.
Some hotels in the chain are already working with Good360, she said. The corporate partnership provides a formal avenue for others to participate and find a home for usable items that would be discarded when a property replaces its furnishings, redecorates or upgrades equipment.
While it's relatively easy to find takers for still-usable tech equipment, like computers, it can be difficult to identify organizations that will accept other used goods, such as towels and sheets. Through its partnership with Good360, the spokeswoman said, Hilton can send a variety of items to the nonprofit, which makes the goods available to charities that will welcome them.
Other firms that work with Good360 include The Home Depot, HP, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma, Disney and H&M. Good360, originally founded as Gifts-in-Kind in 1983, has distributed more than $7 billion worth of donated products to charities and schools over the past 28 years, according to Kara Kozimor, spokeswoman for the nonprofit.
Earlier this month, Hilton announced that it is working with the Global Soap Project to recycle used soap from hotels. The bars of hand and bath soap are collected and reprocessed into new ones for use in crisis areas, such as refugee camps. Hilton also is investing $1.3 million to expand the nonprofit's soap processing operation.
The arrangements with the Global Soap Project and Good360 are part of Hilton's efforts to reduce material sent to landfill by 20 percent by 2014. The hotel company is tracking progress toward that environmental goal and others with its LightStay sustainability management program. The company says the program has been instrumental in saving $74 million in utility costs by cutting energy use by 6.6 percent.
Photo courtesy of Hilton Worldwide.