If you have ever been -or ever intend to be- an environmentalist, you should know that you will be constantly discouraged. Even if you work tirelessly until the day you die, there will still be jerks who put the wrong things in recycling bins. This is why you will find that all professional environmentalists are one of two types of people:
#1. They are unstoppable optimists who continually face defeat but trudge on anyway for the sake of the cause, or,
#2. They are complete cynics who have seen firsthand the futility of working for a good cause and laugh at anyone who believes otherwise.
Being an environmentalist is a constant struggle to remain person #1, no matter how may oil spills and dead polar bears you see on the news. However, when I arrived in the Middle East I was hit with a new level of despair that quickly put me on the slippery slope to becoming person #2, permanently. Westerners take environmentalism for granted, even our own knowledge of it (e.g. when you drive a vehicle that gets 10 mpg, at least you know you it's wrong even if you don't care). Here, however, even the most basic levels of environmental awareness are lacking. The streets are piled with refuse and the whole city has a distinct, rotten odor. Smoking is rampant- occurring in all schools, hospitals, airports and stores. Government workers in orange jumpsuits are paid to sweep the streets every morning, only to have it become covered again with plastic bags, coffee cups, cigarette butts and more within a matter of hours.
I wondered how I could ever continue working as an Environmental Engineer after I returned to the States knowing that for every cigarette butt I filtered out of Lake Erie, a thousand more would contaminate the water in places like Jordan.
But then I met Dina Ala'eddin and saw what people like her were doing to make change happen. I saw how hard she and her colleagues at the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development worked to promote community programs and environmental awareness. I was introduced to refugee relief workers and Peace Corps volunteers and a man named Safe who helped kids in after school programs figure out what they want to do with their lives. I met good people working in every area from special education to fair trade organizations happily ignoring the obstacles presented by reality.
#1. They are unstoppable optimists who continually face defeat but trudge on anyway for the sake of the cause, or,
#2. They are complete cynics who have seen firsthand the futility of working for a good cause and laugh at anyone who believes otherwise.
Being an environmentalist is a constant struggle to remain person #1, no matter how may oil spills and dead polar bears you see on the news. However, when I arrived in the Middle East I was hit with a new level of despair that quickly put me on the slippery slope to becoming person #2, permanently. Westerners take environmentalism for granted, even our own knowledge of it (e.g. when you drive a vehicle that gets 10 mpg, at least you know you it's wrong even if you don't care). Here, however, even the most basic levels of environmental awareness are lacking. The streets are piled with refuse and the whole city has a distinct, rotten odor. Smoking is rampant- occurring in all schools, hospitals, airports and stores. Government workers in orange jumpsuits are paid to sweep the streets every morning, only to have it become covered again with plastic bags, coffee cups, cigarette butts and more within a matter of hours.
I wondered how I could ever continue working as an Environmental Engineer after I returned to the States knowing that for every cigarette butt I filtered out of Lake Erie, a thousand more would contaminate the water in places like Jordan.
But then I met Dina Ala'eddin and saw what people like her were doing to make change happen. I saw how hard she and her colleagues at the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development worked to promote community programs and environmental awareness. I was introduced to refugee relief workers and Peace Corps volunteers and a man named Safe who helped kids in after school programs figure out what they want to do with their lives. I met good people working in every area from special education to fair trade organizations happily ignoring the obstacles presented by reality.
What I learned: Maybe we are fighting a losing battle. But for every jerk I have met here I have found ten people who made me smile.
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