A Langley couple has come up with an award-winning, innovative way to keep items left behind in hotel rooms out of the landfill.

Quinn Cox and Lilia Karimi are the co-founders of Giving Bag, a start-up company that partners with hotels around the world to find charitable organizations that will accept donations of gently used items from travelers.

Cox and Karimi previously worked in guest services and hotel operations, with Cox’s claim to fame as an “omelet artist” at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia.

The idea for Giving Bag came to Cox and Karimi while they were attending Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration and were tasked with coming up with a sustainable solution for a problem in the hospitality industry. They knew hotels were required to keep guest items in the lost and found for three to six months, even if the guest had no intention of claiming their item. According to a Giving Bay survey, 25% of items in hotels’ lost and founds are left on purpose.

“It’s more common than you might think,” Cox said, pointing to his own experience attending conferences and having too many giveaway items and clothing to fit into a carry-on suitcase.

Though some of the things left behind might be distributed, the majority ends up in the trash.

Giving Bag gives hotel guests the opportunity to intentionally donate them with the knowledge that they will be passed on to local charities instead of sitting in the lost and found for months.

“Even if a guest had not thought about it before, if they see Giving Bag in the hotel room, they’re excited to get involved and maybe find something they don’t need anymore, or go buy something they can donate,” Cox said.

Hotels pay a yearly fee to be part of the program. The simple, unassuming white bag is placed somewhere around the hotel room, whether it’s in a desk, closet, bathroom or on the bed the night before check-out.

Since its founding in 2013, Giving Bag has seen enormous growth. The majority of the company’s partners consist of hotels outside of the U.S., such as Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in France, The Woodward in Switzerland and Alila Hotels and Resorts in Asia.

Worldwide, Giving Bag works with 15 different countries. American partners include the Four Seasons hotels in Houston and Atlanta, though the states have been a bit slower to adopt the company’s sustainable practice.

Giving Bag works closely with each hotel partner to identify the most suitable community organizations that could benefit from the donations. That might be something as large and internationally known as the Red Cross, or the Kuda Kudhinge Hiya Orphanage in the Maldives. A hotel in Kyoto, Japan takes Giving Bag items, sells them at the market and donates the proceeds to a local shelter.

“I think people really resonate with the mission of Giving Bag and are excited to be involved,” Cox said.

In 2020, he and Karimi moved to Langley, where they spend about half their year when they’re not traveling. They do not yet have any hotel partners on Whidbey or in the state but welcome the opportunity to work together.

Giving Bag recently received the 2025 Global Vision Award for Sustainability from “Travel + Leisure.” Each year, the company acknowledges individuals, products, destinations and organizations that are pioneering sustainable and eco-friendly travel. Giving Bag was one of 25 winners.

(Photo provided) Hotel guests can place unwanted items in the Giving Bag.