Is K-pop sustainable? Fans buy multiple CD copies for the photo cards inside, but Chungha went eco-friendly with new Querencia album release as South Korea’s entertainment industry tries to go greener
- The idol’s new CD was made with less lamination – save for those all-important photo cards – and sold in paper envelopes instead of plastic jewel cases
- Cinema chain CJ CGV is selling reusable bags made from recycled screens as South Korea’s entertainment industry reckons with post-pandemic sustainability
While Covid-19 has been devastating for people, it has made many rethink our impact on the environment. But can the eco-friendly wave reach the entertainment industry, characterised by intangible, nonconcrete products such as films and music?
South Korean multiplex chain operator CJ CGV found one answer in disused projection screens. In the last two years, more than 70 screens have been discarded by the company’s theatres as they went through renovations or closures.
Previously, such materials were just discarded as waste. But since January this year, those old screens have been reborn as colourful, eco-friendly reusable bags.
In collaboration with social enterprise A’dren (short for All the Children), the multiplex chain has produced two bags, in orange or blue, each with patterns inspired by the vibrant imagination of children – a flower garden and an ice cream resting on a hammock.
The message, “I am reborn from CGV screen”, is on labels inside the bags, which are sold on A’dren and CGV’s homepages as well as in offline shops in Seoul’s Yongsan and Wangsimni areas. A portion of their sales will be donated to childcare centres that helped bring the patterns to life.
Environmentalism has also started to make a small impact on the K-pop industry. Songstress Chungha dropped her much-awaited full album “Querencia” last week, carrying her lead single Bicycle along with 20 other tracks. After its release, she emphasised the eco-friendly aspects of the physical album.
“It’s a hot topic nowadays, so we wanted to produce the album made with environmentally friendly papers. We also tried to minimise the use of lamination and other unnecessary plastics, except for photo cards, something very important for our fans,” the artist told a local radio show.
