Cleanup Soap: Our Chance to Clean Things Up

[Rosemary Mint $8, at Cleanupsoap.com]

Cleanup Soap’s Design Metaphor: “As the soap disappears, so do the landmines.”

Cleanup Soap’s Design Goal: “Wash them away”.

Wondering what is going on? Cleanup is a company that raises funds for de-mining organizations to remove landmines, a target operated explosive weapon, and provide survivor assistance. Shockingly, the global landmine crisis is a pressing issue in over 80 countries worldwide.

Product designer Hidea Matsui strove towards addressing this humanitarian and economic issue while working on his senior project at Parsons. Landmines render land useless, “prohibiting communities from producing food and utilizing water sources, or from building infrastructure, schools and hospitals.”

The devastation caused by landmines led to a collaboration between Matsui and a team of students at Milano School for Management and Urban Policy – The New School (Parsons). Retailing at $8, $2 from each bar, available in Coconut or Rosemary Mint, is donated to the Cambodia Landmine Museum (NGO partner), outside of  Siem Reap. This facility is the home to an orphanage and school for over 30 at-risk children, and serves as a spiritual dwelling to heal the body and soul alike.

[Coconut Rice $8, at Cleanupsoap.com]

The Cambodian Landmine Relief Fund was founded by Aki Ra, a former child soldier. Aki Ra cleared mines slowly using the training he learned while working as a UN de-miner in 1994. He founded the museum, slowly compiling the collection of bombs, mines and other explosive remnants of the war. Today, the Cambodia Landmine Museum is the first licensed and accredited museum of its kind across the globe.

We are normally disconnected from such issues as we can easily shrug off things that do not interfere with our own daily lives. Yet, Cleanup is providing the opportunity to eradicate a crisis that you’lll never forget. By visiting Cleanupsoap.com and purchasing one of the two varieties of soaps, Cleanup is offering us the opportunity to care, support and secure a safer world.

With the simple act of washing our hands, we help clean the earth of a much larger issue.