Lack of hygiene is the cause of millions of deaths in developing countries and a lot of these deaths can be reduced by simply washing one’s hands with soap. The problem is, soap is not available or is too expensive for those living below the poverty line. At the same time hotels discard soaps every day. The 16-year-old scion of the Burman family,
which has a controlling stake in Dabur, has started RogFree, which collects used soaps from hotels which would otherwise have been thrown away. The soap scraps are shipped to a soap-making unit where they are heated, melted, treated and moulded into fresh bars which are distributed to poor school kids in villages. The initiative is presently restricted to Delhi
but Diya Bruman plans to take RogFree to Mumbai. Goa would
certainly be the next destination as it is littered with hotels. At
the global level, Global Soap does what Diya has undertaken
in Delhi. It distributes recycled soap to poor people in developed
nations. Global Soap also provides micro-loans to startups
in communities which lack quality and affordable soap.
RogFree is a brilliant effort and though Dabur has not officially
backed it, the presence of the groups could kick-start an effort
to bring hygiene to poorer areas in the country and save lives
in the process.
