Cecilia Shin Hye-jeong is seen here with her bicycle on the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan in July 2019. (Photo: Catholic Times of Korea)
Sep 19 2023
Cecilia Shin Hye-jeong from South Korea has been involved in environmental activism for more than a decade with various national and international organizations.
She has worked with Green Asia, an NGO dedicated to environmental protection and the International Citizens’ Network for Climate Change. For more than seven years, she has been a member of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee of the Order of Friar Minor.
The 38-year-old Catholic thought her activism was not enough in responding to the call made by Pope Francis in his famed encyclical Laudato si’. “I found myself standing in a disconnected life, absorbed in work and unable to look at the surroundings,” she said. Moreover, she wanted to, “Listen to the cries of the poor and the land” as the pope had called for.
In 2018, she embarked on an arduous bicycle journey starting from Jiangsu province in China through Southeast Asia, India, Central Asia to Istanbul in Turkey. The Southeast Asia leg of her whopping 12,500-kilometer trip took her through Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar.
During the marathon journey, she made sure not to produce and leave any waste that could cause harm to the environment.
“After the long journey, I realized that all creatures, including people who are marginalized, animals and plants, are connected as brothers and sisters. They are victimized by companies in their pursuit of profit,” Shin said.
She chose to travel by bicycle to meet more people and be closer to nature.
She carried a canteen, tumbler and side dish container to take up “the zero-waste challenge.”
“All the time I told myself if environmental protection is the goal of my life, I should put myself in a ‘difficult situation’ to be deeply concerned about nature,” she explained. “In the eyes of God all beings are equally connected and praise Him.”
‘No plastic’
In China, Shin shouted three times saying “buyao” (no need) when a bakery worker asked if she needed plastic packaging, plastic gloves, or a plastic bag. When the worker questioned her refusal, Shin showed a photo of plastic and vinyl inside a whale’s stomach.
Through this small act she wanted to convey that even though it can be difficult sometimes, everyone needs to be aware about the plastic waste threat. She made a stop at Guiyu in Guangdong province of China, where 70% of the world’s electronic waste was once disposed of.
“Recycling in the old days was to destroy computers, keyboards, etc, take out only the metal items that could be used for money, and then throw them away,” she said. There are better ways to recycle discarded materials using modern technology, she pointed out.
“I have seen places where discarded plastic can be turned into microplastic and burned trash be recycled as fine dust,” she added.
In Myanmar, she applauded a generous family for preparing a simple meal from organic vegetables as she prepared to travel to India. On her journey to India, she passed through forests where the surrounding trees seemed to open up a whole new world. “They were providing shade and listening to my stories,” she recalled. “I was already receiving a lot from nature.” In Ladakh, in India she was shocked and surprised to see how “garbage dumps were spread out like carpets.” “At a dump site in Ladakh, dozens of dogs were eating trash pouring out of trucks,” she recounted.
Shin says the journey helped her realize that everything under the sky is connected and related to each other.
The environmental activist has documented the details of her journey and published a book titled “The Elegant Zero Waste Journey.”
The book was launched during an event hosted by the JPIC Committee at the Franciscan Education Center in Jeong-dong, Seoul, on Sept. 15.
“The pope’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti also states that ‘the true beauty of life cannot be experienced without relationships with others.’ Brotherhood can be extended to all other creatures whom we still do not consider as brothers and sisters,” Shin said. – UCA News
