Surf, Smart and Cebuana Lhuillier Launches Building Blocks for Change

Surf, Smart Communications & Cebuana Lhuillier are three of the biggest brands in the Philippines that continuously reinforce and make concrete changes toward greener living.

At a media launch held at Cirkulo, Makati last August 27th, Unilever through Surf, together with its partners -– Smart Communications and Cebuana Lhullier - led the Building Blocks for Change in empowering Filipinos to become building blocks for positive change. This is through their Sachet Recovery Program, which inspires people to do their share in taking care of the environment.

The three companies revealed that sachets collected from the program’s Fiesta ng Surfresa promo were converted into 30,000 cement pavers and will be donated to 30 beneficiary public schools nationwide. These include the Ilaya Elementary School in Tanay, Rizal; Dualtech Center in Canlubang, Laguna; Candau-ay Elementary School in Dumaguete; and Balulang National High School in Cagayan de Oro.

Want free texts? Well, you might want to check out the Fiesta ng Surfresa promo wherein end-users can trade their empty Surf sachets at any of the 1,800++ Cebuana Lhuillier branches nationwide in exchange for 25 FREE texts. The joint efforts of the three companies allowed more consumers to get involved in building a very unique sachet recovery model, making the process easier, convenient and more rewarding for them. The commitment of Surf, Smart Communications & Cebuana Lhuillier will also aid Unilever in creating scale for its long-term sachet conversion capabilities such as the conversion into other useful items like construction boards and fuel.

“Not only does the Sachet Recovery Program address our challenges on waste, it also encourages Filipinos to take a positive action to have healthier surroundings,” said Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this Unilever initiative, through the use of Smart SMS service as a means to reward customer participation in a worthwhile cause,” added Smart co-founder and Chief Wireless Advisor Orlando B. Vea.

“Each Filipino can be a building block for positive change,” said Unilever Philippines Chairman and CEO Peter Cowan.  “This is only the beginning of our campaign for cleaner, greener living.”

Launched in 2012, the Sachet Recovery Program is just one of the various projects of Unilever Philippines under the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, a global campaign which aims to reduce the company’s environmental footprint while growing its business.

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan has three key targets that it aims to achieve by 2020: (1) help more than a billion people improve their health and wellbeing, (2) halve the environmental footprint of its products, and (3) source 100% of raw materials sustainably.

Let's do our share for the envirnoment because living in a “greener” way limits the environmental footprint we leave. Have a great weekend, guys!