The streets are dirty and the Earth is being destroyed by garbage. What is the answer to this worldwide problem? A group of young people in Jeonju might have a solution. They stated that even if it’s a little uncomfortable, we must find a way for people to coexist with each other and with Earth.

Onging[온깅] Adds Warmth to One’s Heart

Here is a crew that tries to spread warmth to others. “Onging” is the Jeonju youth environment crew consisting of fifteen people. Onging literally means “sharing warmth through environmental work”. “On[온]” means “warmth” in Korean and “ging[깅]” is from “plogging”, signifying environmental activity. What warmth do they aim to share, and why? Hwang Tae-woong, the leader of Onging, said, “We feel that there is no warmth between people today, only hatred and blame. Accordingly, we wish for people to become warmer. Plus, we hope to radiate this warmth not only to people but also to the environment by picking up such small pieces of garbage.” They believe that cleaning up the environment ultimately benefits their neighbors, allowing them to share kindness through a clean environment. Hwang first started plogging with residents as a project hosted by Jeonju Social Innovation Center. After this project, he became interested in local environmental work and wanted to activate it in Pyeonghwa-dong. “I think Pyeonghwa-dong is still in a poor environment. There were many coffee cups and cigarette butts on the road. After seeing this, me and the current representative of Onging thought we needed to improve the environment around here and made the crew in July 2021,” Hwang added. Based on this belief and purpose, they actively work to share warmth with people through the environment.

Onging meets new people through KaKaoTalk Open chat. There are no qualifications to join, but residing in Jeonju is preferable. As a bonus, there is no strict working period, as they pursue work in an informal spirit. Even though you are not a member of Onging, don’t worry. Anyone who wants to do something for the environment is welcome to join their crew.

Follow in Their Footsteps

Onging’s activities can be summarized in two main approaches. The first one is plogging. Hwang said all members wear uniform vests. “Before, when we were picking up trash without uniforms, citizens thought we were just nice people. However, when we wore vests with Onging printed on them, it was a good way for people to realize that there were passionate young people in their neighborhoods.” Furthermore, among the mounds of litter, they focused on cigarette butts. “If you pick up a lot of cigarette butts and put them in empty plastic bottles, you can see for sure how much you collected. We have campaigned using this method to encourage plogging.” Where they go plogging varies from time to time. Hwang conveyed what he felt through numerous ploggings. “There are so many cases where garbage is tucked into small gaps, such as cracks in the sidewalk and in sewers. When I see that, I wonder why people go out of their way to litter like that. However, we can cheer up because people who pass by praise and cheer us on.”

Onging’s second approach is using Nephron. Nephron is a machine that circulates resources, and it looks like a beverage vending machine. If users put recycled waste such as cans or plastic bottles into the Nephron, they can obtain financial rewards. Nephron was once set up near Ongging’s facility in Pyeonghwa-dong. Hwang said, “At first, I didn't know anything about that machine. However, after learning about the purpose of Nephron, I thought it would be a great idea to collect plastic bottles and cans and throw them away into it. Therefore, all the members separately throw their trash into Nephron.”

What projects will Onging take on in the future? Hwang mentioned that nothing has been concretely decided, but that future activities will remain similar to now. “Our crew has a comfortable atmosphere with one another, so the members tend to meet each other freely. Even when we're not engaged in plogging, we often enjoy tea or coffee together, which strengthens our camaraderie. I want to maintain the activities that we have been doing with such joy,” he said.

The World That Onging Envisions

Onging emphasizes small changes. While doing many environmental activities, they realized that to live in a clean environment, people should be willing to be a bit inconvenienced. However, this small discomfort is not severe; it's something one can live with, such as using zero-waste products and picking up garbage or cigarette butts. When small changes accumulate, they believe it leads to big changes in the community and even the country, and finally, for a better world. In addition, Hwang said, “We dream of a world where people do small things for their neighbors and the environment with warmth.”

Onging works not only for the environment but for people. They want readers to remember that giving warmth to people or nature is not that difficult; we can all do it in our daily lives. Don’t think it’s too difficult! It’s something we can all do.

| Lee Da-yeon, Ha Yae-one Editors