GS Retail holds environmental education sessions for children on resource recycling

GS Retail announced Friday that it had conducted environmental education sessions for children on the importance of resource recycling, in partnership with Beautiful Store.

GS Retail held the sessions Wednesday at GS Pureuni daycare center in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, and Thursday at GS SHOP Dodamdodam daycare center in Mullae-dong, Seoul. Children learned how resources are discarded and the impact on the environment, and practiced everyday habits such as waste sorting, reuse and upcycling.

The sessions are part of the "Upcycling Friends" eco-friendly resource recycling campaign that GS Retail and Beautiful Store have run since 2021. This year, the campaign began with a donation drive involving GS Retail employees and members of the public, collecting about 100,000 items. The donated goods were transformed into children's environmental education kits — each containing a biodiversity workbook, an upcycled bag and an upcycled animal keyring. The kits are set to be distributed to about 500 children at community child centers across the country.

Since the "Upcycling Friends" campaign launched in 2011, a cumulative total of 12,380 people have taken part. About 456,000 items have been donated, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 81 metric tons.

"The best way to protect the environment is for future generations to naturally learn the value of resource recycling and put it into practice in their daily lives," said Park Gyeong-rang, head of GS Retail's ESG division. "We will continue to expand environmental education for future generations together with Beautiful Store."