Suntory Beverage & Food (Thailand) Co., Ltd. and Suntory PepsiCo Beverage (Thailand) Co., Ltd. have successfully raised awareness of water and environmental conservation among Thai youth through the "Mizuiku Water Model School" contest that promotes the creation and implementation of water conservation projects in schools and surrounding communities. Sponsored by the "One Suntory Mizuiku Program 2024", the two winning schools from Chonburi and Rayong provinces will participate in an educational trip to Japan between October 27 to November 1, 2024, to learn about the background of the "Mizuiku" program.
Representing "One Suntory", Piengchit Sriprasart, SVP People & Culture and Corporate Affairs, Thailand & Indochina, Suntory Beverage & Food (Thailand), stated that "Water resource is crucial to Suntory Group's business operations. Therefore, we prioritize the preservation of water and the environment by establishing water-related sustainability goals, such as raising youth awareness of water conservation, reducing water use in the production, and working with suppliers in the supply chain to improve water use efficiency for their production. We also recognize challenges of water resource management in Thailand. Consequently, we focus on carrying out initiatives to raise youth's awareness and foster positive behaviors to protect water and the environment, supporting them to be change agents responsible for sustainably conserving the environment and water resources. To address these goals, we held the 'Mizuiku Water Model School' contest as part of the 'One Suntory Mizuiku Program 2024', supporting teacher and student leaders who joined the June 'Mizuiku Water Hero Camp' to implement water conservation projects within their schools. This created positive impact to over 8,000 students and teachers from 30 schools in Chonburi and Rayong as they gained knowledge about water and environmental conservation, fostering long-lasting changes."
"Under the 'Mizuiku Water Model School' contest, the two companies provided financial support of 10,000 baht to each of the 30 schools, enabling them to carry out water conservation projects covering four aspects, including policy, stakeholder participation, infrastructure, and community engagement, while forming the 'Mizuiku Club' to drive the projects sustainably. To assess the efficiency of project implementation of these schools, the committee; consisting of representatives from both companies, environmental experts, and representatives from the Department of Water Resources, the Pollution Control Department, and the Department of Climate Change and Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; participated in an online project presentation and an onsite visit to select one winning school from each province to join an educational trip to learn about the history of the 'Mizuiku' program in Japan."
"The implementation of the "One Suntory Mizuiku Program 2024" aligns with our corporate value of "Growing for Good", which has continuously been upheld by both companies. It strengthens employee engagement in social and environmental development activities as the business continues to grow."
A committee member and lecturer at the Department of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sitang Pilailar stated that, "During the online presentation, we saw the students' enthusiasm in sharing about their projects. As we visited the schools, we were even more impressed with their capacity to apply the knowledge gained from the 'Mizuiku Water Hero Camp' to create solutions. This is excellent because water is a significant resource for all lives, and we will not exist without water. We hope that the students participating in this activity will further share the knowledge within their families and communities."
As for the winner selection criteria, scores from three parts will be combined to screen for the school with the highest score from each province: 1. Test results from the camp activities; 2. Project presentation via online platform; and 3. Project evaluation from the onsite visit. The following schools have been chosen to represent the provinces of Rayong and Chonburi:
Petch Pittayakom School, Chonburi Province: The main objective of the school is to implement a holistic project, incorporating all aspects of "Environmental Education" knowledge with learning experiences that take place both within and outside classrooms. The school also founded the "Mizuiku Water and Environment Conservation Unit" to investigate environmental and water-related issues in the community and school so that the students can offer relevant practical solutions. Their innovative creations are "Sprinklers to Save the World, Reduce Dust, Reduce Heat, and Water Vegetables" and "DIY Grease Trap." They also participated in activities to treat wastewater before discharging it into public water sources, address environmental and pollution issues within the community, promote proper waste separation, which have been expanded to many surrounding communities. These activities focused on raising awareness among students and their families, partnering with other schools, offering learning materials to encourage waste separation, educating the public about marine waste and microplastics, taking part in the "Release Crabs Back to the Sea" initiative to boost the population of aquatic animals, planting mangroves, and volunteering in the "Upstream-Midstream" campaign to reduce waste in the canal that connects Ban Suan Municipality and Chonburi Municipality, etc.
Chumchon Borisat Namtan Tawanaok School, Rayong Province: The school introduces a holistic learning management project to develop themselves into a middle-leveled Eco School, following the concept of "an environmental citizen school with holistic health management". This is achieved through the comprehensive development of infrastructure, including a drinking water system, a wastewater treatment system for the canteen, which used to be the school's main challenge, and water quality inspection before releasing into natural water sources. Within the school, all staff members engaged in water conservation and successfully spread the word to surrounding communities and families. Furthermore, the school incorporated curriculum and extracurricular activities related to water and environmental conservation, including environmental studies, producing fertilizer from food waste, and measuring pH and oxygen levels in water for quality testing, the knowledge gained from attending the "Mizuku Water Hero Camp."
For updates and more information, visit the One Suntory Mizuiku Program Thailand's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OneSuntoryMizuikuProgram.
Additional information
Below is a list of the finalist schools visited by the committee during the onsite evaluation:
Chonburi Province
- Wat Pong Tamuk School?T.M. Project, Drops of the Future
- Petch Pittayakom School? Mizuiku Water and Environment Conservation Unit
- Wat Tapotaram School (Osathanugrah Witthaya)?Tapotaram Project: Water Conservation based on the King's Philosophy
- Ban Khao Din School (Chonburi Primary Educational Service Area Office 3)?Project for Healthy Soils andWater Conservation
- Ban Amphoe School (Chearavanont Uthit 9)?Project to Treat Wastewater
Rayong Province
- Chumchon Borisat Namtan Tawanaok School?Project to Conserve Water Resources in Schools
- Niyom Sang Ton Eng Rayong 10 School?Nikhom 10 Project, Water and Global Conservation
- Wat Map Chalut School?High-quality Water for Students' Lives in Schools Project
- Wat Ko Kloi School?Ko Kloi's Water Conservation Project
- Samakkee Ratbamrung School?Water Conservation with the Heart Project
Programs during the onsite visit covered a brief presentation of the project, project site observation, a conversation with students, teachers, and school staff, and a question-and-answer session with the committee.