Lotte Department Store Opens 'Real Market' in Seongsu-dong: "Let's Pick Up Trash Together"

Lotte Department Store announced on the 20th that it will hold the last “Real Market” of the year in Seongsu-dong, the mecca of the MZ generation.

Real Market is an eco-friendly event that raises awareness of the importance of the environment by finding places that need environmental cleanup where many people visit and conducting “plogging” (picking up trash). Plogging kits including tongs, bags, and other necessary items for environmental cleanup are rented out, and zero-waste goods are given as gifts upon completion of plogging.

Since the first event was held last August during the summer vacation season at famous beaches in Yangyang, Gangwon-do, and Woljeong-ri, Jeju Island, it has received enthusiastic responses and established itself as a representative eco-friendly program of Lotte Department Store’s ESG campaign “RE:EARTH.” Over the past year, five Real Market events were held, with more than 4,000 participants joining the plogging activities, collecting over 20,000 liters of trash.

This year, the target areas have been expanded and the number of events increased. Starting with the first Real Market of the year held in April around the cultural heritage site Gyeonghuigung Palace, a total of six events were conducted by September at locations including Myeongdong street, beaches in Busan and Jeju Island, and Olympic Park.

The last Real Market of this year will be held in the Seongsu-dong area, popular among the MZ generation, on the 22nd from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., conducting plogging to encourage participation from many people in their 20s and 30s. Pre-registration, which began on October 11 through the Lotte Department Store app and other channels, attracted over 300 applicants, showing strong enthusiasm. It is expected that the actual number of participating MZ generation members will exceed 1,000.

The booth will be set up at “Understand Avenue,” a hip place for the MZ generation. The booth will support on-site registration for plogging participation, rent out bags and tongs, and upon completion of plogging, participants will receive a total of eight reward goods including eco-friendly konjac shower balls and Dr. Noah’s bamboo toothbrushes.

At the “Social Room” located in the main plaza of Understand Avenue, an event zone will be installed. Videos documenting Lotte Department Store’s “RE:EARTH” campaign activities such as “Earth Task Force” will be screened, and “upcycling goods” will be exhibited. A “receipt photo event” will also be held. Plogging participants can take photos of their receipts for free, receiving two copies: one to leave their impressions of the plogging experience and one to keep as a memento. Additionally, those who have participated in multiple Real Market events so far will receive upcycling mats, Real Market postcards, and other rewards depending on the number of times they have joined. Other events such as designated hashtag SNS campaigns are also planned.

Up to this year, a total of twelve Real Market events have been held, with a cumulative participation of about 11,000 people and an estimated trash collection volume exceeding 45,000 liters. This year’s participation reached approximately 7,000 people, a remarkable 70% increase compared to the previous year. Next year, the themes, programs, and content of Real Market will be diversified to encourage even more people to participate.

Kim Ji-hyun, Head of Marketing & Communications, said, “Assuming South Korea’s population is 50 million, 0.02% of the entire population has participated in Real Market in just two years,” adding, “We will make Lotte Department Store the ‘number one eco-friendly campaign hub’ so that the small ‘wind’ created by the company can grow into a greater ‘empathy.’”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.