In April, when the number of outing-goers heading out for flower viewing increased thanks to the weather finally warming up, environment-related events stand out. On the occasion of "Earth Day" on April 22, ESG.ONL visited the site to capture the passion of people who cherish the Earth! Through on-site coverage of the "Earth Day" event hosted by the Seoul city government, we would like to share a time of listening to stories of making an Earth we live in together and reflecting on the significance the 2025 Earth Day holds.
[The entrance to the Earth Day event site © ESG.ONL]
This past Sunday, ahead of Earth Day on April 22, the "Our Power, Our Earth" outdoor event was held at the "Culture Plaza" of Yeouido Park. This event, created together by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Green Seoul Citizens' Committee, prepared 25 various hands-on booths and won the enthusiastic response of citizens who visited the site. A large hot-air balloon floating in the sky above the plaza and the clear voices of environmental-musical actors on the stage heightened the festive atmosphere.
At the center of the site, tables were arranged drawing a large arc, and there was a "Our Power That We Draw Together" drawing hands-on area on large paper, so that everyone's Earth gathered to decorate one beautiful Earth. Like an Earth completed by everyone pooling their strength, various promotional booths at this event showed different ways to practice loving the Earth. Diverse groups participated, adding to the meaning of "Earth Day" — the local government hosting the event, the Seoul city government, as well as nonprofit organizations such as "People Who Think About the Environment," corporate foundations such as the "BMW Korea Future Foundation," the first social-contribution foundation among imported-car brands, and environment-related companies such as "Repenguru," an environmental-education content production company.
[A fishing hands-on activity finding reusable containers among disposable ones, and the reusable-container service "returnit" © ESG.ONL]
A Meaningful Collaboration Between Local Government and a Reusable-Container Company
In front of the booth of the Seoul City Hall Resource Circulation Division, a "magnet fishing hands-on activity" with reusable containers and plastic was prepared, and the laughter of family-unit visitors was constant. The "delivery food" we often order is convenient but has the side effect of generating excessive trash. The Seoul Resource Circulation Division, worried about the harm that endlessly discarded disposable plastic containers do to the environment, worked with "returnit," a reusable-container supplier, to inform citizens of the advantages of reusable containers through a fun game and encourage reducing the use of disposable containers.
Using one reusable container many times has the effect of not using 300 disposable plastic containers. Moreover, if you use reusable containers through a delivery app, you can, along with a food discount, earn 1,000 won per order through "carbon-neutral points." Delivery apps such as Baemin, Coupang Eats, Yogiyo, and Ddangyo already offer reusable-container benefits, and the target delivery apps and delivery areas are on a continuously increasing trend. Yang Yu-jin, an official of the Seoul Resource Circulation Division, said, "We will promote so that citizens have a positive view of the very existence of reusable containers, and continuously raise the participation rate of reusable-container delivery orders, currently 10,000 per month on average," asking for the active use of reusable-container ordering, a small effort to protect the Earth.
[Climate Fresk environmental education with the nonprofit "People Who Think About the Environment" © ESG.ONL]
Exploring "Your Climate Emotions" with People Who Think About the Environment
At the booth of the nonprofit "People Who Think About the Environment" (hereafter "PWTE"), a special environmental education using climate cards was in full swing. It is an environmental-education program developed in France called "Climate Fresk." Through a dialogue asking and answering what the concept of the climate and environmental keyword written on each card is, and whether it is placed in the correct cause-and-effect relationship, it expands thinking, and goes through a process of understanding by checking the explanation written on the back of the card. After the program, participants also talk about the climate emotions they felt through Climate Fresk, and together build wisdom to solve environmental problems. Participants comment that they can have a more interesting and rewarding time than reading any environment-related book.
PWTE, an environmental group that aims to share knowledge about environmental problems, connect it to practice, and create a sustainable future, is operated in a citizen-led way. PWTE's members have diverse backgrounds, from urban-ecology majors to environmental consultants and biology teachers. Gathered with a passion to sincerely think about the environment and carry it through to action, they actively raise their voice to the world based on the group's expertise, such as proposing environmental policy together with the "Seoul Youth Policy Network." PWTE Vice President Kim Won-ji said, "Living up to our slogan 'from learning to practice,' I hope the knowledge we conveyed to citizens here today becomes inspiration usable in daily life." PWTE does not only environmental education such as "Climate Fresk" workshops but also academic activities and eco-friendly activities. In particular, it will continuously develop activities to lead the public's practice — such as conducting plogging (picking up trash while walking) campaigns and preparing climate talk concerts, in collaboration with "Earth Mera," which created an application that records eco-friendly activities.
[Families assembling an electric-car kit together with the BMW Korea Future Foundation © ESG.ONL]
BMW Korea Future Foundation: A Preview of the Future with Electric Cars
Among the many booths at the site, the place where you could feel the popularity by far, with its long waiting line, was the electric-car guidance booth of the "BMW Korea Future Foundation." BMW Korea, which established the first nonprofit foundation among imported-car brands in Korea in 2011, develops various education and campaign programs related to automobiles with sustainable development as its core vision. Its environmental-education program "Next Green" alone is held 20 times a year, and the electric-car kit experience carried out as part of the Next Green program concentrated interest at the event site. Participants learned the principles of electric cars and, by actually assembling and operating a car kit, could build knowledge about electric cars, which will spread further as a future means of transport.
BMW Korea donates 15,000 won to the "BMW Korea Future Foundation" for each car sold, under the concept of a "sales matching fund." It is meaningful that everyone — BMW's dealers and finance companies — takes part. Moreover, among BMW customers, there are said to be cases of individual donation to join the foundation's good cause. BMW Future Foundation Manager Lee Hyun-ji said, "Because electric cars have a more positive impact on the environment than internal-combustion cars, I hope interest in electric cars spreads further through a program that children and families can all enjoy together."
[Repenguru environmental-education blocks for stacking penguins on a melting iceberg © ESG.ONL]
Repenguru: Saving Penguins Is the Way to Save the Earth
This place, full of cute penguin-shaped blocks, is "Repenguru," an environmental-education content company that features the penguin, an animal symbolizing the risk of extinction. Repenguru's penguin blocks are a play tool for stacking large and small penguins on a glacier-shaped block, finding the center of gravity so they don't collapse. This has the meaning of helping children's growth and development while doing environmental education together. The product materials, too, use eco-friendly materials such as wood or biodegradable plastic, containing Repenguru's own philosophy throughout the product.
Repenguru is a company established to inform people of the seriousness of climate change, posing the question, "If the glaciers of Antarctica all melt and disappear due to climate change, what will happen to the penguins?" CEO Lee Ji-young, a former designer, has steadily carried out a sincere business over the past ten years, studying endangered penguins one by one and personally making teaching tools, books, stationery, and more. Repenguru CEO Lee Ji-young said, "The message that we should all strive together for the global environment should be conveyed easily regardless of whether one is a child or an adult," conveying the resolve to make Repenguru's products pretty to look at and safe to use, so that anyone can approach them with interest and enjoyment.
[The number of disposable cups reduced by using tumblers © ESG.ONL]
As it was an outdoor event, the day's weather luck also had to cooperate, and perhaps because it was an occasion commemorating "Earth Day," this past Sunday the event could be enjoyed safely under clear weather. Someone may have a skeptical view of "will carbon neutrality be kept just because I alone change?" But the many groups and citizens who took part in the event will have experienced the hope that we are heading toward a goal together, not through one person's effort alone.
At the event site, there was a booth handing out tea for free to people who brought tumblers. And on the electronic-display banner installed right next to it, "the number of disposable cups we reduced today" was written. The "Earth Day" event once again reminded us that what is needed to make a today for tomorrow is the effort of all of "us."
By Editor L