June 8 is World Oceans Day, the international day for reminding the preciousness of the ocean which covers 70% of the earth’s surface.

Having managed the customers’ skin through the spa since 1990, Shangpree realized the importance of circulation in our body. ‘Circulation’ is a principle that should be applied not only to our body, but also to the environment where we live. So, Shangpree has paid attention to the circulation of sea and forest, the foundation of our lives, and carried out a campaign with Korea Green Foundation to preserve nature. In this post, we are going to tell you Shangpree’s social contribution story, sea & forest restoration activities to celebrate World Oceans Day.

What threatens our lives worldwide? Most of you think of ‘climate change’. Why is climate change a threat to us?

Climate change causes heat waves, heavy rains, landslides, and air pollution, so damages people, plants, and animals. It has been getting stronger since the Industrial Revolution, and especially today, it can be said to have become so severe that we can feel it with our skin.

To respond to climate change and preserve the ecosystem, Shangpree and Korea Green Foundation is holding a mangrove planting campaign <Forest for Breath>. It is an activity to restore mangrove forests in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, where 25% of the forest were destroyed by logging and development. Faithfully participating in <Forest for Breath> project, Shangpree has been involved in planting 80,000 mangrove trees for 5 long years from 2015 to 2019.

The trees planted by Shangpree absorbed 850,000 tons of carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change. As the forest was restored, the number of wild animals living in the forest increased gradually, and it became possible to protect villagers from dangers of tsunamis and typhoons.

Mangrove planting Before/After

After confirming the good effects of steadily planting mangrove trees, Shangpree decided to do best for the health and happiness of nature and people, and join together in planting 100,000 mangrove trees.

▼See more about <Forest for Breath>▼

https://savemangrove.kr/

According to Korea Ocean Environment Information System, from 2018 to the present, Korea's marine waste is estimated to be about 7.1 tons. More than 80% of them are plastic waste. Marine life suffers a lot from the plastic we use every day. 

In particular, plastic bags usually become food for sea turtles and take their lives, because plastic bags smell like their food after a week of being discarded. Additionally, the plastics we use every day have an indescribable adverse effect on almost all the marine life and destroy the ecosystem.

Shangpree creates products for people with natural ingredients from the ocean, so could not overlook this problem. That was the reason why Shangpree decided to participate in Korea Green Foundation’s <Earth Plogging Campaign : Ocean ver.> As part of this project, Shangpree plans to visit and clean up the areas where coastal cleanup is needed, and spread the need for environmental protection from July 2020.

A recent COVID-19 epidemic has brought new waste to the sea: disposable masks. Masks are essential to prevent viruses, but discarded masks flow into the sea and threaten the marine ecosystem. In order to protect sea animals from these inflowing garbages and reclaim clean sea, Shangpree and Korea Green Foundation launched <Earth Plogging Campaign>. 

Shangpree and Korea Green Foundation will monitor the status of marine garbage in Korea and support organizations working to protect the ocean. Among them, we will select Korean NGOs and grassroots organizations which are active to protect the marine environment, and support their activity costs in consideration of the action plans. We will do our best to protect the sea animals from the threat of plastic and preserve the beauty of the sea.

▼See more about <Earth Plogging Campaign>▼

https://earthplogging.com/

“It will be a stepping stone

for governments, businesses, and civil society to join hands

and leap from a carbon society to a circular society.”

by Choi Yeol, Korea Green Foundation director

Shangpree and Korea Green Foundation will continue to work hand in hand to save the environment. Please give a lot of attention to Shangpree’s social contribution story!