In April last year, Kim Jun, Vice Chairman of SK Innovation (first from the right), and new employees carried out Sanhaejinmi activities around the Jongno-gu area in Seoul. Photo by SK Innovation
[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] SK Innovation announced on the 1st that 280,000 people participated last year in the 'Sanhaejinmi Campaign,' an initiative to protect the environment.
The Sanhaejinmi Campaign, which means "Let’s make the mountains (San, 山) and the sea (Hae, 海) truly (Jin, 眞) beautiful (Mi, 美)," is based on plogging, an activity that involves picking up trash while jogging or walking. It has been implemented company-wide with the goal of driving significant change through small actions.
SK Innovation started the Sanhaejinmi Campaign in 2021, initially involving company members, and then expanded it into a nationwide campaign in partnership with the Korea Volunteer Center. In its first year, about 150,000 participants including SK employees, general citizens, and students took part.
According to the Korea Central Volunteer Center, from April to the end of last year, a total of 278,498 people participated in the Sanhaejinmi Campaign, including 7,842 SK Innovation executives and employees and 270,656 external stakeholders and citizens. This represents an 80% increase compared to the previous year.
The Sanhaejinmi activities also brought meaningful changes in participants’ environmental awareness. A survey conducted by the Korea Central Volunteer Center with 1,312 campaign participants showed that the percentage of respondents who answered "Yes/Strongly Yes" to the question "I will refrain from using and consuming disposable products" rose significantly from 63.5% before participating to 91.2% after.
When asked about their willingness to participate in climate crisis response activities, 41.3% answered positively before participating in Sanhaejinmi, which increased to 73.2% after participation. This indicates that the Sanhaejinmi Campaign has had a positive impact on raising citizens’ awareness and interest in the climate crisis and environmental protection.
The Sanhaejinmi Campaign is expanding beyond Korea to overseas locations as well. Under the slogan "EnviRun (Environment + Running) for the Earth," SK Innovation members stationed in countries such as the United States, China, and Poland are participating, fueling the campaign’s momentum.
An SK Innovation official stated, "While developing eco-friendly technologies to solve the plastic waste problem is important, it will be difficult to sustain the current environment if people’s lifestyles and environmental awareness do not change. This year as well, we will continue to spread the message that 'big changes for the Earth’s environment start with small actions' and carry on the Sanhaejinmi Campaign."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
