Playa Viva’s Commitment to a Transparent & Regenerative Supply Chain

What do we do with our leftover soap? Firstly, let’s step back to where we source our products. When we talk about sustainability at Playa Viva, we’re not just talking about protecting the coastline or growing organic vegetables. We’re talking about something less glamorous but just as important — our supply chain.

This year, we took a closer look at the origins and impacts of everything we use, from shampoo to ice delivery. We surveyed our 20 main suppliers to understand their sustainability practices and see where we could do better. The results were enlightening, and more importantly, they sparked real change.

Small Tweaks, Big Impact

Here are a few ways we’ve already turned insight into action:

🌿 Goodbye, Green Bottles
We learned that there’s no facility within an hour of Playa Viva that can recycle green glass. So, we stopped serving Heineken and now only offer beers in brown or clear bottles — ideally from local Mexican breweries. Cheers to better recycling!

❄️ Plastic-Free Ice, Please
Our ice used to arrive in plastic bags. Now, our supplier delivers it in reusable coolers. A simple switch that saves thousands of plastic bags a year.

💧 From Shower to Soil: Choosing Rayito de Luna
We swapped our shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and body lotion for products from Rayito de Luna, a Mexican B-Corp with one of the highest impact scores in the world. Their refillable, agroecological citrus-scented formulas are made with ingredients from small-scale Mexican farmers, and the results are beautiful — both for our guests and the planet.

Thanks to this switch, in just one year, we’ve:

• Prevented 402 plastic bottles from entering the waste stream
• Saved 840 liters of water (by using rainwater in production)
• Avoided 0.46 tons of CO₂ emissions
• Regenerated 95 hectares of land
• Supported 5 Mexican farming families directly
• See our dedicated annual impact report from Rayito de Luna here.

Looking Ahead

We’re not stopping here. We’re hosting a yearly Supplier Day at the hotel to connect, collaborate, and share our vision with our partners. We’re also encouraging all suppliers to improve their operations, reduce packaging waste, and align with our regenerative principles that work to protect this beautiful watershed that we all call home. 

Back to the Soap

Alongside our Rayito de Luna products, we have some organic, locally made soap bars in all of our rooms. Last week, over lunch, a guest asked us what we do with the leftover blocks, leading us into this wider discussion around our supply chain. The simple answer is, we reuse the soap, not for other guests but in our housekeeping department. Using boiling water, the team melts down the blocks and turns them into a natural laundry detergent that is used on sheets and towels that are then dried in the sun- possibly the most scenic washing line on earth. The inner workings of our housekeeping department are a blog for another day.