Eco Top Trumps: South Korea — Humanitarian Girl

On our visit to South Korea we only really spent time in the capital, Seoul (and a day trip to the DMZ which I would 100% recommend if you ever get the chance!). For this reason my scores can only be attributed to the country's capital!

Single use plastic - 6

Plastic bags had a charge in lots of shops, and we were always asked if we wanted one, rather than it being assumed. After some research, I found out that single use plastic bags were banned in South Korean supermarkets at the beginning of this year! It wasn't a charge like the UK, supermarkets had to offer an alternative like cloth or paper bags. We did sometimes still get offered plastic bags (so maybe it's still being rolled out), but what a step forward!

Fruit and veg in supermarkets was similar to the UK, sitting in a polystyrene tray and wrapped in plastic film. The only exception being market stalls which as expected had produce loose.

I was pleasantly surprised to be served our drinks in McDonald's (don't judge us!) in reusable plastic cups! I noticed as well their hot drinks came in proper mugs. On its own that doesn't seem like much, but that's a huge global corporation making a stand against single use plastic!

Ease of recycling - 8

Bins were more readily available than in Japan (but to be honest that's not hard, Japan should be officially known as the phantom bin country!). There was almost always options for recycling, often with space to pour liquid away too. They had these cool bins for plastic coffee cups - on the side it stated PET so I think these must have been recyclable too!

Clean environment - 5

The streets were a bit dirtier, but actually this was quite comforting - the more I think about Tokyo the more it seems quite sterile, like a 'model city'. Seoul wasn't notably dirty as such, but I think compared to Tokyo it seemed so. There were piles of bin bags at the side of some streets, but they were cleared the next day - presumably this was just the way rubbish is collected.

We noticed quite a few older people with carts collecting cardboard. To begin with I just assumed (very naively) they were homeless and it was a quick way to make cash. I've since looked it up - it's part of the government welfare system. Pensioners are hired for a small number of hours a week to carry out tasks such as maintaining flower displays and collecting recycling. It keeps them mobile and busy, as well as keeping the streets tidy and clean. I'm definitely not suddenly an expert on the Korean welfare system, but this seems such a positive for the older generation and the environment!

Exploring Seoul, the hat was needed - it was very chilly!

Local attitude - 7

I noticed all the categorised bins were actually kept to - I didn't see many plastic bottles in the 'trash' section. People did seem to genuinely care about where their litter went.

We went to a baseball game in Seoul (come on the Doosan Bears!) and were SHOCKED at the end of the game when everyone went out of their way to pick up all the rubbish from the stadium seats. Although there were a lot of plastic beer cups and food packaging they were all sorted into recycling bins by the exits. Hardly any litter was left at the end, which puts a UK sports event to shame!

Still not sure I understand the rules of baseball! But it was fun!

Final thoughts

As with the rest of the world, South Korea has a long way to go to cut down its plastic usage; however, I was thoroughly impressed with the availability of recycling bins and people's attitude to recycling! The plastic bag ban and the cardboard collections show it's certainly at the forefront of people minds.

Score total: 26/40