Being Environmentally Friendly in Korea

One thing I was concerned about coming back to Korea was the anticipated lack of resources and support for sustainable life style. Lack of awareness for fair trade coffee and chocolate, biodegradable products, more wholesome and natural products. Not to discredit Korea's efforts, there have already been tons of products and resources from before. Buses operating on natural gas, compost and recycling throughout the entire city, very high support for local food (also because the cost of importing from other countries besides China is very high), no plastic bags at grocery stores, and more.

During the past couple of days, I was proven wrong and relieved. When I looked closer, I discovered a wide range of additional achievements Korea has made. One example is this dish sponge. I was browsing through the web this morning and read an article on this popular sponge made of acrylic yarn. Apparently acrylic fiber breaks down lipids and maintains to be germ-free, so this sponge doesn't require dish soap to do dishes - just some light scrubbing and water even for tough grease stains. And I realized that we had one at home! Of course I was very doubtful that this worked and had to give it a try. And ... Voila! I couldn't believe it worked! The dishes looked and felt incredibly clean. One could argue that acrylic is not very sustainable (I've yet to do more research on this), but the usual dish sponges are polyesters and other plastic materials as well anyway, so as this one eliminates soap and lots of hot water, it is a winner.

I also read this short opinion article in the paper this morning: How Korea is becoming to reject non-fair trade coffee and conflict diamonds (recently learned issue: watch Blood Diamond). I browsed through the internet for more fun products and other relevant news afterwards, and seems like my ideal lifestyle might be supported here better than in the U.S.