Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
KTO focused on zero-waste tourism
Participants of the Korea Tourism Organization's eco-friendly tour pose at Upo Wetland in Changnyeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, July 21. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
For Jang Ji-won, 25, it sounded like a tall order at first when he was participating in a zero-waste trip late last month, given that travel is filled with disposable products ranging from single-use toiletries to plastic cutlery to takeaway lunch boxes.
The eco-friendly tour program was devised by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and introduced to the public for the first time this year as part of its efforts to raise awareness of the need to end a reliance on single-use items, particularly plastics, while traveling, and eventually send nothing to landfills.
“When it comes to going zero waste while traveling, I felt it would be inconvenient and cumbersome at first,” the college student said.
However, two days were enough for Jang to change his mind about eco-friendly travel after he and 19 other participants themselves planned a zero-waste trip and put it into action on July 20 and 21.
The tourism promotion agency received applications for the two-day event in June, and 184 people applied for the program. The itinerary included visits to Daegu Modern History Street, Seomun Night Market, Upo Wetland in Changnyeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, and a smoldering and hazardous mountain of garbage in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province.
Participants clean up near Upo Wetland in Changnyeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, July 21. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
The zero-waste campaign came as global tourist attractions such as the Philippines' Boracay, Indonesia's Bali and Thailand's Maya Bay on the island of Phi Phi are struggling with increasing waste. Boracay reopened in October 2018, six months after closing for a cleanup operation, while Maya Bay will be closed to tourists until at least 2021.
The participants brought their own reusable water bottles instead of using single-use plastic bottles. In addition, a visit to the horseshoe-shaped, 170,000-ton trash heap in the county helped them understand how serious the trash issue is getting in the country.
Their efforts toward travel without waste continued in their visits to restaurants and cafes. They tried not to leave food on the plate, while using their own cloth napkins instead of single-use paper towels.
At cafes, they had coffee or tea in tumblers, not plastic cups, and during a night market tour, they used multi-use containers and forks not to create any waste.
The participants did not use plastic straws at time-honored Mido Cafe in Daegu that opened in 1982. The cafe owner, inspired by the zero-waste campaign, has also decided to eliminate single-use plastic straws in her business.
According to the KTO, the total waste emission from the two-day trip amounted to less than 10 liters, or less than 0.5 liters per person, all of which was waste paper.
People holding tumblers line up to order at a cafe. Instead of using plastic cups, they carried reusable tumblers for waste reduction. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism
“Unlike my first impression of zero-waste travel, it was a great experience to think about the importance of the environment,” Jang said.
“When the trend of eco-friendly travel settles, these type of inconveniences will not be a problem anymore.”
“Taking this trip as momentum, the KTO is set to promote a sustainable environment-oriented tour program in cooperation with relevant organizations,” said Kim Sung-eun, director of the KTO's Social Value Team.
“The KTO plans to hold the tour program biannually from next year.”