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Changes Start with Choice, ReTurn-bler
Yan Natalya Editor, Song Yura & Lee Won-jun Reporters
-Will you be having it here? - Please make it to-go! Busy coffee lovers have this dialog with a worker in any of countless café in Korea every day. Enormous coffee consumption causes a problem of many plastic cups and straws used and all plastic waste dumped anywhere. As a solution for the problem, Jeollabuk-do Council for Sustainable Development (JBCSD) launched a small movement called “Turn-bler” project. Let’s take a look on this project!
Plastic is almost ideal as a material: cheap, lightweight, hygienic and resistant and easy to make. It has the only flaw called ‘nonbiodegradable’ feature, which has already caused a global issue. Thus, the plastic only grows and spreads wider. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”, a well-known international environmentalists’ motto, was inspired by exactly this feature of plastic. Though we still fail to follow the very first principle. Now we produce about 300 million tonnes of plastic every year. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the largest industrial sector is plastic packaging, single-use material designed for immediate disposal. Look around! You see it everywhere: plastic bags, bottles and takeout cups.
‘Turn-bler’ is not a typo. The word was recently created as a part of the waste reduction promotion program. A turn-bler means a sharable cup, and it is a word combined ‘turn’ and ‘tumbler’ together. JBCSD is running this project with 14 cafés in Gaek-ri-dan street (GRDS). If you buy a take-out drink in one of these 14 cafés, they will give you the drink not in a plastic cup but in a sharable cup. After drinking your beverage, you should return the cup to any café that participates in the project. If you know that you will not be able to return the turn-bler in advance, café will provide you a bio-disposable PLA cup and straw that made of corn starch instead. This project is a collaborative effort that is supposed to reduce the use of plastics in Gaeksa, the central area in Jeonju famous as shopping leisure place.
The Turn-bler project was started in GRDS because of the visible deterioration of environmental problem. While JBCSD were making sharable cups, 14 cafés in Gaeksa used a bio-disposable PLA cup not to use plastic cups. As you can see, this project reduces use of plastics in the café of Gaeksa. Also, this project will be carried out in JBNU Old Gate soon. Judging from this process, it is expected that this project will be spread not only in Jeonju and Jeollabuk-do but also in the whole Korea.
JBNU Globe reporters interviewed the chief manager of Namu Radio café, one of the cafés taking part in the turn-bler project.
Q. Could you explain how did you decide to participate in the Turn-bler project?
A Jeollabuk-do Council for Sustainable Development contacted us and suggested this project to take part in. Before participating this project, I have had critical thought about madcap use of plastic cups and straws. Sadly, I didn’t have much information how to solve this problem and alternatives to straws. However, now I can contribute to environment.
Q. Is there any difficulty or challenge regarding this project? If so, can you tell us what was the problem?
A. Nothing special, but even though we attached the project promotion posters, customers are indifferent to that. So, we always have to explain about the project to those, who get take-out beverages. That’s all!
Q. Then, when you explain about the project, are customers willing to use a turn-bler?
A. Actually, lots of people from other provinces visit Gaek-ri-dan street. They have difficulty to return the tumbler. Except them, mostly people are willing to participate in this project.
Q. Before May this year, bio-disposable PLA cups were replaced with the normal plastic cup. And after May, turn-bler was introduced. Now, after the introduction of turn-bler, are the bio-disposable PLA cups still used for take-out?
A. Yes. We use bio-disposable cup and turn-bler at the same time. When it is difficult for a customer to return the cup, we give beverage in a PLA cup. This is the tactic that helps us successfully reduce plastic uses and prevent turn-bler loss.
Reporter’s Zero plastic project review
We visited Gaek-ri-dan street to cover Zero Plastic project and Turn-bler project. We had to find the cafes where they are participating the projects. However, there was not an analogue map which informs us where the cafes are that are involved. Thus, we had to find them by using online map. It was little inconvenient. We finally found café. We ordered beverages with turn-blers. The drinks were put in the stainless-steel tumblers and capped with transparent caps which look like a normal plastic cap. But the manager explained that cap and straw is PLA which is made by corn and bio-disposable. The straw was more durable than paper straw. The turn-bler was pretty light to carry. And the ice was well preserved in the stainless-steel tumbler.
There was also an uncomfortable point on using the turn-blers. The cafés are spotted in a certain area, not dispersed, which makes customers obligated to come there once more. That may be reason why even Jeonju citizens may hesitate to use turn-blers.
The small movements in the Old gate
In September of 2019, the PLASTOP project launched at JBNU Old gate to replace plastic cup with PLA cups. This program was supported by Jeonju Social Innovation Center and 14 cafés around JBNU Old gate participated in this ecofriendly project. Jeonju Social Innovation Center subsidized the cafés to use PLA cups which is four times expensive than normal plastic cups. This project was run until November of 2019. To prolong the co-operation between Jeonju Social Innovation Center and the Cafés, an agreement ceremony was held on 29th of November. These cafés proceed with the presentation of the signboard and the reading of the declaration and discuss each other at this agreement ceremony. Also, in progress report time, there was a mention of future plans about the PLASTOP project. They said three future plans. First, café’s support method for the PLA cost sharing are mentioned. Second, making an application for the café is proceeding. Lastly, establishing consumer awareness transition is important for settlement of PLASTOP project and environmental problem. These small movements in the Old gate are making better and better difference in our society and environment.
So far, humanity has been hurting the innocent nature badly. Finally, we are recovering from the last years ecological blindness and choosing to think beyond personal comfort. The Turn-bler is a type of projects that a should be a regular thing in our society. Changes always start with a little choice. But such small decisions multiplied by common effort will make the change. Next time, when they ask you if you are ok to use a turn-bler, make a right choice.