Young entrepreneur pitches environmental education programs
By Chung Hyun-chae
Kim Tan-hyu, 27, created an education company with two friends last year to help children, many of whom are addicted to smartphones, appreciate nature and life.
"I hope children will grow up to become adults who can respect nature and care about saving lives," said Kim, who as a mountain biker until he was a sophomore in high school, has been more in touch with nature than his peers have been.
Becoming interested in studying, Kim changed his career in his senior year and entered Kookmin University to study business administration in 2008.
Due to financial difficulties, however, he had to drop out of university for a while to work part-time.
"While tutoring several students to earn money, I found out that children of today have few chances to be exposed to the natural environment," Kim said.
This grew into his passion for offering children opportunities to explore nature.
After returning to school, he came up with the idea of providing environmental education programs to children and established his company called My Little Universe in November 2016 with two friends ― Shin Jong-hwan, 23, and Lim Do-won, 26.
Their target customers are children younger than 14. They go to schools to deliver their educational content.
Children can appreciate nature and life through My Little Universe by experiencing making fishbowls with disposable cups. This is how these cups become little universes.
The idea came from a study conducted by the Seocho-gu Office showing that more than 73 percent of rubbish scattered around the streets was disposable cups.
"Fish waste can be nutrients for plants," Kim said. "We teach children how to protect the environment and respect life."
Children take fishbowls made of disposable cups to their homes and raise the fish. My Little Universe also teaches children how to take care of them.
Many companies have been supporting Kim's business.
For example Hyundai Motor provided a van so that they can visit more schools located further away.
"We are thinking of expanding our business. For example we plan to travel to nature conservation areas with children from low-income families," Kim said.
"Our education program may not take effect right away, but we strongly believe that things will change in a decade after the children become adults," he added.
By Chung Hyun-chae
Kim Tan-hyu, 27, created an education company with two friends last year to help children, many of whom are addicted to smartphones, appreciate nature and life.
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| Kim Tan-hyu |
Becoming interested in studying, Kim changed his career in his senior year and entered Kookmin University to study business administration in 2008.
Due to financial difficulties, however, he had to drop out of university for a while to work part-time.
"While tutoring several students to earn money, I found out that children of today have few chances to be exposed to the natural environment," Kim said.
This grew into his passion for offering children opportunities to explore nature.
After returning to school, he came up with the idea of providing environmental education programs to children and established his company called My Little Universe in November 2016 with two friends ― Shin Jong-hwan, 23, and Lim Do-won, 26.
Their target customers are children younger than 14. They go to schools to deliver their educational content.
Children can appreciate nature and life through My Little Universe by experiencing making fishbowls with disposable cups. This is how these cups become little universes.
The idea came from a study conducted by the Seocho-gu Office showing that more than 73 percent of rubbish scattered around the streets was disposable cups.
"Fish waste can be nutrients for plants," Kim said. "We teach children how to protect the environment and respect life."
Children take fishbowls made of disposable cups to their homes and raise the fish. My Little Universe also teaches children how to take care of them.
Many companies have been supporting Kim's business.
For example Hyundai Motor provided a van so that they can visit more schools located further away.
"We are thinking of expanding our business. For example we plan to travel to nature conservation areas with children from low-income families," Kim said.
"Our education program may not take effect right away, but we strongly believe that things will change in a decade after the children become adults," he added.
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