The Triangle of Change: How LAUGFS Gas Built a Three-Pillar Social Impact Framework
Beyond the Cylinder: A Three-Tiered Model for LPG Industry Social Impact
A Sri Lankan energy company's three-pronged approach to clean cooking access offers a replicable blueprint for global industry transformation
In the pre-dawn darkness of rural Sri Lanka, seven-year-old Malini wakes to a familiar ritual: the acrid smoke that fills her kitchen as her mother lights firewood for breakfast. This scene, repeated in three out of every four Sri Lankan households, represents more than an energy choice, it's a daily assault on human dignity that LAUGFS Gas PLC refused to accept as inevitable.
What began as corporate conscience has evolved into "Project Life," a groundbreaking initiative that's reshaping how the global LPG industry approaches social responsibility. Through a sophisticated three-tiered strategy combining direct intervention, emotional storytelling, and generational education, LAUGFS Gas has created a blueprint that's capturing international attention and delivering measurable transformation across communities.
The Challenge: Where Traditional Cooking Still Dominates
The Sri Lankan context illustrates a challenge familiar to LPG markets worldwide. Despite rapid urbanisation and growing energy infrastructure, approximately 70-80% of Sri Lankan households still rely on firewood as their primary cooking fuel, according to the Department of Census and Statistics. A nationally representative household income and expenditure survey covering over 21,000 households confirmed that over 50% of families continue to depend on firewood for cooking.
This widespread dependence on biomass exposes millions, particularly women and children, to indoor air pollution, eye and respiratory illnesses, and daily drudgery. In many low-income homes, firewood cooking remains not only a health risk but a trap that perpetuates poverty and gender-based hardship.
Similar patterns exist across developing markets globally, where despite LPG availability, adoption barriers prevent households from transitioning to clean cooking solutions. For LAUGFS Gas, this represented not just a market gap, but a moral imperative to act.
Project Life: Direct Community Upliftment Through Access
Project Life serves as LAUGFS Gas's flagship community upliftment initiative designed to empower vulnerable families by providing access to clean, safe, and efficient cooking energy.
More than a traditional donation programme, Project Life identifies families most affected by firewood use, often elderly women, children, and informal food vendors, and provides them with a complete LPG starter kit (cylinder, regulator, stove), along with comprehensive training and ongoing support.
Dozens of families have already benefited directly. The campaign's impact is captured through emotional documentation that tells the real stories behind the statistics—where less smoke means more health, less hardship means more hope.
This direct intervention model addresses the immediate access barrier while building long-term sustainable energy practices within communities. The approach demonstrates how targeted support can create lasting behavioral change that extends beyond individual households.
Dara Kadulu: Storytelling That Moves a Nation
Dara Kadulu, meaning "Tears of Firewood," represents an innovative emotional film campaign launched to raise public awareness about the human cost of traditional cooking practices.
The campaign tells the powerful story of a mother and child burdened by indoor air pollution and the psychological toll of poverty-linked firewood use. Through evocative visuals and authentic storytelling, the campaign educated viewers about the invisible crisis behind closed kitchen doors.
The innovation lies in integration: LAUGFS Gas embedded QR codes in the campaign enabling viewers to donate loyalty points or funds, which were then converted into real LPG kits for families in need. This seamless connection between emotional engagement and direct social action created a powerful model proving that emotional resonance can fuel real change.
The result demonstrates the potential for mass communication to drive both awareness and action simultaneously, a approach with significant implications for LPG marketing strategies globally.
Little Gas Stars: Inspiring the Next Generation
While Project Life and Dara Kadulu focus on households today, Little Gas Stars turns the spotlight on tomorrow's clean energy champions, the children.
This unique school-based engagement programme brings together students from diverse communities to learn about energy safety, environmental responsibility, and the benefits of LPG. Through interactive sessions, art, theater, and competitions, children become ambassadors for change in their own homes and neighborhoods.
The programme nurtures a culture of safety and awareness while bridging the knowledge gap between generations. It represents a long-term investment in behavioral shift toward sustainable energy usage that creates generational change.
In its first phase, Little Gas Stars reached over 500 students, many of whom influenced positive energy practices in their own families, a ripple effect that demonstrates the multiplying power of educational initiatives.
Quantifiable Impact Across Multiple Dimensions
The integrated approach has delivered measurable results across social, economic, and environmental dimensions:
The Ripple Effect in Digital Spaces:
- Social media reach: 2.5 million+ – Each view representing a moment of recognition, a spark of empathy. 12% of the local population has taken this as a awakening message and shared with their loved ones to get rid of deadly inhouse emissions.
- Engagements: 12.7k+ – Not just clicks, but conversations started in homes across the nation
- Sentiment: 93% positive – Hearts opening, minds changing, hope spreading
- 60+ media mentions across national platforms, with 3 prime-time TV slots and 2 health expert panel invitations
- Google searches for "indoor emissions" surged 42% during our campaign period, proof that awareness was translating into action
These metrics demonstrate both immediate impact and long-term behavioral change, providing a framework for measuring social value creation within LPG business models.
A Blueprint for Industry-Driven Social Impact
In a global context where energy providers are increasingly called upon to demonstrate social value, LAUGFS Gas's three-tiered approach offers a compelling new playbook for the international LPG community:
Tier 1: Direct Community Upliftment Through Access (Project Life)
- Targeted identification of vulnerable households
- Comprehensive starter kit provision with training and support
- Focus on sustainable adoption rather than one-time distribution
- Measurable health and economic outcomes for beneficiaries
Tier 2: Emotional Mass Communication for Behavioral Change (Dara Kadulu)
- Authentic storytelling that humanises energy poverty
- Integration of awareness campaigns with direct action opportunities
- Digital engagement platforms that enable immediate community support
- Viral content that reshapes public discourse around clean cooking
Tier 3: Early Education for Generational Shift (Little Gas Stars)
- School-based programmes that build safety awareness and environmental responsibility
- Children as change agents within their families and communities
- Long-term investment in behavioral transformation
- Multiplier effect that extends programme impact across generations
Together, these campaigns demonstrate how LPG can be positioned not just as a commodity, but as a life-enhancing force with deep social and emotional relevance.
Global Implications and Replication Opportunities
The LAUGFS Gas model offers several insights with global applicability:
Market Development Strategy: Social impact initiatives can accelerate market penetration in underserved segments while building brand loyalty and community trust.
Stakeholder Engagement: Emotional storytelling combined with direct action creates deeper stakeholder relationships than traditional marketing approaches.
Sustainable Business Models: Programmes that address social challenges can create shared value, generating both business returns and community benefits.
Policy Influence: Industry-led initiatives can shape government policy and public discourse around clean cooking transitions.
Measurement Frameworks: The three-tiered approach provides clear metrics for assessing social impact alongside business performance.
For WLGA members operating in markets with similar energy access challenges, this model offers practical frameworks for replication and adaptation to local contexts.
Looking Forward: Scaling Impact Across the Global LPG Sector
The success of these initiatives points toward broader opportunities for industry leadership in sustainable development. As governments worldwide prioritise clean cooking access through initiatives like SDG7, LPG companies are uniquely positioned to be solution providers rather than mere commodity suppliers.
The LAUGFS Gas experience demonstrates that social impact initiatives can strengthen market position while contributing to global development goals. This dual value creation represents a significant opportunity for the international LPG community to differentiate itself and build sustainable competitive advantages.
Closing Thoughts: Fueling Futures, Not Just Kitchens
At LAUGFS Gas, clean energy is more than a product, it's a pathway to dignity, safety, health, and opportunity. Project Life, Dara Kadulu, and Little Gas Stars are more than campaigns; they are commitments to demonstrating what the LPG sector can achieve when it embraces its potential as a force for social good.
Project Life proved that authentic storytelling doesn't just build brands, it builds better communities. Our success lies not in awards won or metrics achieved, but in the 1000+ families now cooking with dignity, the 15,000+ children who understand their right to clean air, and the millions who witnessed that change is possible.
Today, LAUGFS Gas stands not just as Sri Lanka's leading LPG provider, but as proof that businesses can be forces for human dignity. We didn't just run a campaign—we started a conversation that continues in kitchens, classrooms, and hearts across our nation.
As these efforts continue to grow, LAUGFS Gas invites fellow WLGA members and global energy stakeholders to collaborate, replicate, and reimagine what the LPG sector can achieve, not just for customers, but for communities and generations to come.
The blueprint is proven, the impact is measurable, and the opportunity for industry-wide transformation is unprecedented. The question for the global LPG community is not whether such initiatives are possible, but how quickly we can scale them to create meaningful change worldwide.
LAUGFS Gas PLC is a leading LPG supplier in Sri Lanka, committed to providing clean, safe, and accessible cooking solutions while driving meaningful social impact across communities. For collaboration opportunities or to learn more about replicating these initiatives, contact the LAUGFS Gas team through WLGA networks.