Kakao is marking World Environment Day by rolling out both a user-participation donation campaign through its social contribution platform and offline ecosystem protection activities involving employees.

Kakao said on Thursday it is launching an online campaign to raise awareness of resource circulation and holding employee volunteer activities to protect local river ecosystems.

First, KakaoTogether, its social contribution platform, launched a user-participation eco-friendly campaign titled "Things Used Once and Thrown Away". The project upcycles used banners, together with volunteers, into about 16,000 disaster-response sandbags. The sandbags are set to be delivered this summer to 5 to 6 areas vulnerable to heavy rainfall. Users can take part by clicking the Bokshimi button on the campaign page to indicate participation, and Kakao will donate 1,000 won once per account on their behalf. Environmental webtoon content using Kakao Friends characters Bokshimi and Tube will also be released.

Offline, employees will take direct action to protect the environment. Kakao will hold an activity on Friday called "Unjungcheon Biodiversity Guardians" around the Unjungcheon stream near its office building in Seongnam, with about 100 employees and family members taking part.

The event is being 추진ed as part of the Gyeonggi Public Interest Activity Support Center's "One Company-One Group Public Interest Partnership Cooperation Project". Kakao held an official agreement ceremony on Wednesday at Seongnam Kakao Azit with the Gyeonggi Public Interest Activity Support Center and the Seongnam Federation for Environmental Movement. Employees' family members will go plogging along Unjungcheon and conduct a river ecosystem survey. They will remove invasive plants and sow seed balls made from seeds of native waterside plants to help nurture the river's natural environment.

Kakao also plans to work with the Seongnam Federation for Environmental Movement to create otter shelters around Unjungcheon and Tancheon, continue monitoring and contribute to ecosystem recovery and the creation of river culture.

Hong Shin (홍신), Kakao's ESG cooperation performance leader, said, "Online, we have come to carry out efforts together with users to find new value in waste resources, and offline, to protect the local community ecosystem together with employees." He added, "We will continue our efforts to protect the environment and build a sustainable society."