Dow is a leading materials company developing premier solutions that are essential to human progress. The company applies the principle of sustainable development to every undertaking. Transitioning to a circular economy is not only vital to the preservation and protection of our planet's natural resources, but also to the success of businesses at Dow. Our ambitious 2025 Sustainability Goals highlight the company's collaboration with the government sector and civil society organizations to create a sustainable society with Dow innovation, collaboration and knowledge. As a result, the "2019 DOW CHARITY RUN", a 5km charity fun run, was held at Bangkok's Lumpini Park where several exhibits on environmental protection were set up to raise awareness and encourage the participants to apply the circular economy principle in their daily lives. All the monies raised were donated to the Thai Red Cross Society to raise funds for cleft lip and cleft palate surgery and other types of disabilities.
Mr. Chatchai Luanpolcharoenchai, Dow Thailand President, said "Our 1.5 million bath donation can help 306 cleft palate patients to have timely surgical treatment. There are still many patients nationwide with other deformities waiting for corrective surgery but being poor, less fortunate or living in remote areas. This donation will give them the opportunity to live a normal life and pursue their dreams."
The circular economy principle was showcased throughout the event. Runners and event participants were shown how to manage waste effectively, especially plastic waste that can be turned into valuable resources through the 3 Rs process - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - in the exhibits from Dow volunteers, the Won Community and the Thai Environmental and Community Development Association or "Magic Eyes". This exhibition will not only raise people's awareness but also lead to behavior change in natural resource consumption.
"Over the past 52 years, we have run our business in collaboration with our partners and all sectors. We see today's event as a good opportunity for us to use sport as a force for change. Everyone is an important change agent in making Thai society more sustainable. We hope that this activity will help raise awareness and understanding of waste management, change waste into a valuable resource, prevent waste from entering the environment and more importantly inspire people to routinely apply the circular economy principle. This will lead to positive change and add value to the economy, environment and society." Mr. Chatchai added.
In addition, the 2019 DOW CHARITY RUN set up several green campaigns for the more than 1,200 runners to join, such as using public transportation to attend the event in order to lower the release of greenhouse gasses that cause global warming, bringing their own water bottles to lower waste from plastic cups and educating participants about the right types of bins for proper waste segregation in order to achieve the zero waste goal, make disposal of trash easier and lower the amount of contaminated waste which might end up in landfills and cause environmental harm. In line with the circular economy principle, the participants were encouraged to reuse of items they received at the event. For example, the medals can be reused as cup holders while the lanyards and food containers can also be reused after the event.
About Dow
Dow combines science and technology knowledge to develop premier materials science solutions that are essential to human progress. Dow has one of the strongest and broadest toolkits in the industry, with robust technology, asset integration, scale and competitive capabilities that enable it to address complex global issues. Dow's market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of advanced materials, industrial intermediates, and plastics businesses deliver a broad range of differentiated technology-based products and solutions for customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, and consumer care. Dow is a subsidiary of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), a holding company comprised of Dow and DuPont with the intent to form three strong, independent, publicly traded companies in agriculture, materials science and specialty sectors. More information can be found at www.dow.com .