The Problem with "Free" Tiny Hotel Shampoo

There’s something weirdly fulfilling about miniature things – do you agree? 

I mean, we’ve all discovered some sort of endearment towards dinky jam pots at restaurants. Those little pots have a way of making you stop and think before reaching for one, even though they’re meant to be enjoyed on the spot. Hotel shampoo ‘freebies’ are one of many. Maybe you think it’s awesome. Thinking you’ll sneak a bottle or two home after an overnight trip. You can see why someone might want to take them home, but they’re really meant to be left behind.

They feel free, right? Well, that’s the trick. 

You have already paid for that tiny bottle of shampoo through the cost of your hotel and breakfast. And then there’s the environmental price tag, which practically encourages you to hoard, but the cost to the planet is anything but tiny.

Keep the Tiny Hotel Shampoo?

We’ve all been there. The contemplation of whether or not to take them because the bottles will be there ready to use either way. However, whether you grab it or not actually matters, as it all adds up in the end. Hotels, cafes and restaurants keep buying more, manufacturers keep making one too many, and the cycle keeps going. Now imagine all the tiny shampoo bottles piling up as single-use plastic every year. Apparently, UK hotels send a whopping 200 million tiny toiletries to landfill every year. Shocking, right? No wonder California decided to do something about it, banning small plastic bottles in hotels. 

Leave the Tiny Bottles?

Yes. Eventually, all those bottles will just gather in numbers and dust in your drawers anyway. And while it might sting to leave behind something that feels ‘free’, not taking it actually helps. The more that’s left, the longer it takes hotels to reorder, and maybe the manufacturer won’t make as many next time. You can even drop a comment to the hotel, suggesting refillable wall dispensers or for them to only offer toiletries on request. 

What if Everyone Left their Tiny Bottles?

Now we are talking! If no one used the tiny jams, the tiny shampoos, the tiny butter etc then the hotel, cafe or restaurant would just have them sitting around. They wouldn’t order more as they aren’t being used. Eventually, you’d hope that they’d get the message that they aren’t needed. The manufacturer wouldn’t make as many either, and maybe look towards doing something less harmful to the environment…. we hope!

This theory is the same for any plastic bottles of stuff being given away, whether it is the free drink samples on the street or free ketchup sachets with chips… In fact, years ago when I was much younger, I used to keep a bottle of tomato ketchup in the glovebox of my car for those late-night chips runs! Innovation, after all, is all about coming up with clever alternatives!!

I will give a shout-out to Le Pain Quotidien, a cafe chain in London. I met a friend there for coffee the other day, where they were serving breakfast jam in full-sized jars delivered to the table with the toast! See it can be done…..