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Jangheung, South Jeolla Province, was recently designated as ``Slow City,’’ an environment-friendly city. The land has eco-experience farms and is rich with natural insects. / Courtesy of Janheung County Office |
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The keywords of the year were definitely ``climate change and the environment.'' Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize, while all domestic and international media selected climate change as the keywords of the year.
Working for the environment has been a long tradition in some parts of the world. Green Peace, one of the largest environment civic groups in the world, was established in the 1970s and has run various campaigns to save the earth.
In Korea, it wasn't until the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games that the government and people became aware of environmental issues. As air quality in Seoul was reported as poor, questions arose internationally whether it would be okay to hold certain events here, the Hankyoreh newspaper reported at the time.
Environment Barely Recognized
The environmental issue came more widely into people's lives in 1995 when the government initiated a volume-rated garbage management system nationwide. People had to buy plastic bags to dispose of their waste.
Soon after, a separate garbage collection system was adopted in which the public had to classify their waste into recyclable and non-recyclable. Papers, plastics, styrofoam, milk cartons and glass bottles had to be recycled.
The classification has since become much more specified ― people remove vinyl labels from recyclable waste to simplify the procedure; and foods containing moisture were kept separate so they can be used as animal fodder. The Ministry of Environment said that the separation of food waste surpassed 96 percent in 2005.
Recycling changed lifestyles, too, with recycled products coming onto the market. Newspapers were turned into recycled paper for use in notebooks or test book papers. Mothers made soap out of wasted cooking oil by adding caustic soda and used leftover food as manure.
In 1994, the Office of Environment was upgraded to a ministry, reflecting the social attention and demand for a clean environment.
Well-being For ``Me''
However, it was the late 1990s and early 2000 when ordinary people began to truly understand the concept of being ``environmentally friendly.'' News reports told of chemicals in the environment from heated plastic containers that affected hormones; and atopic skin diseases caused by fast foods and concrete-surrounded building areas.
The concept of well-being became very popular ― a lifestyle that is eco- and bio-friendly and ultimately good for each person.
Many people realized that living an environmental-friendly life would lead to a better life. People began to make foods with organic ingredients and tried to use organic detergents while washing so as not to contaminate the water.
They use rice rinsed waters and baking sodas to wash fruits. They wear secondhand clothes to avoid chemicals that come out from new clothes or wear those made with natural fibers only.
Lee Ji-sun, 36, wakes up in the morning and pours a cup of water from a container filled with charcoals. She then cooks soy sauce soup and serves fresh vegetables for her family breakfast and dresses her son in t-shirts she bought at the ``Beautiful Store.''
She washes the dishes with EM (Effective Microorganisms) washing liquids and then puts food waste into a large bucket she keeps worms that eats it.
She first had this idea when her six-year-old son was hospitalized after suffering from a severe atopic skin disorder and asthma. ``I realized that the environment and human health are very much related. It's not just for the environment's sake but it is for me that I maintain this lifestyle,'' Lee said.
Recently, the Ministry of Environment announced that the volume of the domestic environmentally friendly product market has surpassed 14 trillion won and there are 5,502 eco-products authorized by the government.
Large supermarket chains such as E-Mart, Lotte Mart or Home Plus all have their own environmentally friendly brands and their sales are increasing. E-Mart expects to offer more than 1,500 kinds of goods in its line.
It isn't only about the individual. To replace running out and polluting fossil fuels, studies on alternative energies ― non-polluting and reusable ― are being developed. Ethanol from corn and sweet potatoes, other oils from flowers or fruits are suggested solutions.
LOHAS for ``You and I''
While well-being was being almost passive ― protecting oneself from pollution ― the movement soon became very active and social. More people expressed frustration toward modernization and pollution as well as the destruction of nature.
From the mid 2000s, people began to think further than just individuals. The ``LOHAS (Lifestyle Of Health And Sustainability) groups'' arose with their social awareness. They choose hybrid cars partially run by electric energy, wear environmentally friendly fibered garments, take ecologically friendly trips and eat only organic food.
They do not just look for well-being in themselves but seek for sustainable development in society. Businessmen take into account the amount of carbon dioxide used when they travel by planes on business trips, and then plant trees that emit oxygen to offset the emission.
Some Web sites such as Greentag USA and Terapass provide carbon calculators, which evaluates the amount of CO2 a person emits a year when using transportation, and turns it into an equivalent amount of money to donate.
Very often, these people are labeled as ``green upgraders.'' Cho Eun-ho, 30, became a green upgrader when he married his wife two years ago. His wife used environmentally friendly shampoo and other detergents. They used toothpastes that form no foam because they do not contain a surfactant. His wife used sanitary towels made of used cotton.
They try to use public transportation and use less electronic gadgets that cause the emission of greenhouse gases by using fossil fuel generated electricity. ``First, it didn't sound convenient. But now, I feel proud that I am doing something to help the earth,'' he said. They now have a plan to live in a rural areas and dream of having their own farm to grow their own crops.
Recently, Jeung Island, Jangheung County, Wando County and Damyang, all in Jeolla Province, were certified as ``Citta Lenta'' (Slow City) from the International Slow City Committee.
In order to be designated, a place must have no large supermarkets, less than 50,000 population that can guarantee the quality of life and an environmentally friendly culture.
The four spots qualified as they had mushroom farms, environmentally friendly salt fields, bamboo bathing forests and traditional boulangeries making cookies with local specialties, alongside their clean air and nature.
Jangheung County spokesman Kim Cheol-ho said the slow city designation will prove that the region can achieve sustainable development _ making economic and social development without harming the environment, but protecting it.
``It is not that we are living like prehistoric or non-developed people. We are just trying to match our pace with nature,'' Kim said.
Me and You and Everyone
LOHAS has now evolved into another direction ― to care about the environment and educate those who ``barely'' know.
The so-called ``Fairtrade'' is becoming a global trend and many people are adding social consciousness to their environment protection. Fairtrade is an organized social movement and market-based model of international trade, which promotes the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods, according to Wikipedia. The movement focuses, in particular, on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, and so on.
The Beautiful Store is one of the world-acclaimed models of fairtrade, adding to its original intention to help isolated people and protect nature from pollution through meaningless consumption.
The store receives used items from the public and resells them. About 95 percent of the profits made at the store go to the economically underprivileged. ``This secondhand sales section has two effects ― helping others through secondhand items and by doing so reducing the amount of waste,'' a store spokesman Kim Gwang-min said.
Also, many of the new items sold at the store are eco-products. ``We pursue happiness for all mankind and we believe that this cannot not be achieved without having a clean environment,'' he said.
One product that brings attention is the sale of ``The Snow of the Himalayas,'' bags of coffee from Nepal. They are directly bought from Nepalese farmers who grow coffee beans in environmentally friendly ways and are sold directly at Beautiful Stores.
By cutting the distribution channels between the two, consumers in Korea can buy organic coffees and other goods cultivated in environmentally friendly ways and the people in the so-called third world can benefit more economically.
The store is planning to offer more fairtrade goods since they are much loved by its customers. ``I can act in a way that is both charitable and environmentally conscious when buying this,'' Kim Eun-hee, a 41-year-old customer, said. She bought second hand clothes and toys for her son and some coffee for herself.
It's not only the beautiful store, but large supermarket chains such as E-mart that are also selling some fairtrade items because they ``do make profits.''
``Now, just sorting garbage or using public transportation to save CO2 emissions are not enough. We are moving to find alternative energy that makes less pollution and ways for all mankind to cherish nature,'' Kim Mi-hwa, the director of Zero Waste 21, said.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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