“I would like to deliver a message of working together and not being alone for all of you who have been practicing environmental protection quietly by yourself. I wish my story would give readers the strength to seek continual fulfillment of their vision.”

We are living in the golden era of YOUTUBE. While diverse YOUTUBE channels ranging from food channel to travel, makeup, and daily life have attracted popular interest, one channel has been opened with the theme of environment. This channel has been operated by the professors of the Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering at UNIST and students from several departments who have a keen interest in environmental issues.
A metaphoric combination of ‘Blue Marble’ that expresses the shape of our blue earth, with a word that sounds like the word Us meaning ‘We’ and Earth in English, the name Marble Us points to the nuances of Marvel the production company famous for heroic action, with a sense of being a hero who protects the beautiful earth together with others.
What does the environment mean to this team comprised of Professor Kang Sarah and undergraduate students of the Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering, graduate students of the school of Energy and Chemical Engineering, and undergraduate freshmen? How did they start the operation of the YOUTUBE channel?
“It was really hard to pull out an iron spring on the calendar for recycling. I had a strong desire to develop products that would not cause harm to the environment and do so directly. At that time, when I looked at the papers wasted during the professors’ conferences and the presentation of a proposal for an academic degree, I was determined to gather colleagues who had a keen interest in the environment.”
Professor Kang Sarah was the one to take the first step. Professor Kang came to practice directly through small actions in her daily life such as minimizing the cumbersome process of recycling and reducing consumables in waste. Earlier this year, she posted a notice on the school website seeking people who had a keen interest in environment issues and gathered colleagues. Until now, inquiries have been continued by students who want to participate. “I had a keen interest in climate and have been participating in the relevant study. I believe several causes like environmental contamination will affect our climate directly and indirectly. However, it seems difficult to change the world only through research. I thought we could change the world a little through direct practice and activity. That is how I came to think I should participate when I found the information on Marble Us Recruitment.”
Lee Byung-Hun at the undergraduate school of Urban and Environmental Engineering revealed the reason why he decided to participate in Marble Us in 2018. He wanted to develop deep understanding about the climate and environmental issues in his daily life and fulfill his role by taking action. To the members of Marble Us, the work on environmental issues is not only a task to fulfill but also an interesting theme to design a challenging idea rather than a difficult and serious problem. Video contents that these people produce do not end at simple appreciation but show the characteristic of the project to induce viewers’ participation.
The project introduced suggestions and recommendations that people can practice in their daily lives. For instance, a certain video shows a person who takes a multiple use container directly to a store and puts foods in the container to reduce the use of disposable plastic bags; another suggestion is to make a collection box for recycling icepacks that come with frozen and refrigerated foods. Collected icepacks are distributed to nearby restaurant or mart that needs them. If such videos would encourage viewers to think, ‘Ah, it‘s quite a new method, should I try?’, their project would be the greatest success. It is our goal to come up with activities and expand is reach for everyone to follow easily in a fun manner rather than the activity of environmental protection that only we implement voluntarily. When we make contents, the most important consideration is the sense of familiarity. We make an effort to present easy explanations and practical methods that everyone can understand. Our approach is to gather and shortlist ideas through conferences and select the members to participate in filming the videos. Later, with a video edition program learned through self study, we produced the first video and professor Kang Sarah and team members gathered to review again. The meeting was to discuss views and decide which part should be removed or when subtitle is needed or which special effect would be good. As students work on every part of the project directly without help from professional video makers, it takes long hours and much effort to complete a single video. The onsite work is always full of laughter and the excitement of fulfilling something for the environment directly by oneself.
“It may sound exaggerated but we truly have been taking part in the activity with the pride of being ‘Heroes who Protect the Earth’. At first, it was not only difficult for us to produce a video and post it on YouTube but it also took long hours. But we are overwhelmed with pride to see the quality improve gradually. It would be more fun when viewers keep watching our growing appearances.” Lee Do-Seok of the Graduate School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, who joined the university in the year 2021, appears frequently in the video and his face shows full confidence.
Marble Us does not stop at producing several videos for fun right away but tries to implement various projects consistently. As much as it requires investment, we are considering a plan to create an income source for sustainable operation. In collaboration with the students of a course in fashion from other nearby colleges, we have designed diverse items; this includes bags utilizing placards and eco-friendly kitchen detergent. Marble Us wants to give practical ideas to those who consider, “What could we do to protect the environment?” and act as an encouraging voice to those who have been practicing in their own unique ways. We hope to see the day when we receive a golden button for this channel and retain many viewers. If many viewers can participate in such activity, the earth will truly become a Blue Marble.