Something odd is going on. There is a girl with a flouncy pony-tail running all around campus, picking up the garbage that has been heedlessly thrown around the classrooms, auditoriums, and even the chapel. Students walking by stare at the girl with curiosity and surprise, startled that someone is actually making the effort to pick up the garbage. But this is not any extra credit assignment or some social service class, nor is it a job, but rather it is an action taken from the student, Kim Soo-jin's (Special Education, 2) genuine wish to protect the environment right at home. University students have joined to establish the Green Club at Ewha aimed to develop and boost Ewhaians insight and participation in events regarding environmental problems.
In the first semester of last year, the Ewha Green Club held its first organic food fair during the May Festival at Ewha, and will hold another at Yonsei University this year. "Although we weren't able to make much money, it was meaningful to sell organic products because many university students could see how environmental issues are closely related to our well-being and are not something distant," says Kim, the president of the club.
In the second semester, the club put forth an exhibition of photographs that compared unpolluted and polluted nature scenes. The exhibition turned out to be a success because it raised awareness of Ewhaians regarding the environment, not only among Ewhaians but also people visiting the school during the weekends with their children. The club has also shown environment-related documentaries and movies at the Student Hall such as Erin Brockovich, a movie where the main actress strives to make the water quality better in a small town. Commenting on Ewhaian? awareness of environmental problems, Kim said, "Ewhaians are good with recycling the garbage right. However, they still lack responsiveness to problems in society such as the Saemangum Land Reclamation Project and consider environment problems something distant."
Student bodies at other universities have also worked together to form environment-related clubs. The Green University Club, an association of pro-green clubs of various universities, opens environment-related seminars during the summer and winter breaks where students discuss environmental concerns and try to come up with solutions. The club has also energetically participated in circulating petitions protesting against the extensive construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway near Mt. Cheonsung with the "Friends and Salamander" group led by the Buddhist nun, Ji-yool.