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| Georgiana Sook ('19) |
One of the biggest things that struck
me in China is the negative impact we as humans have on the environment.
Although I knew China had problems with air and water pollution, the fact never
sunk in until I lived there for a few weeks. It's easy to think about things
like environmental sustainability theoretically, but hard to fully grasp the
urgency when the consequences don’t immediately affect your life in any way.
As someone who (thankfully) doesn't deal
with seasonal allergies or asthma, I tend to take my relationship with the
atmosphere for granted. Other than occasionally choking on food or holding my
breath to avoid a foul smell, I rarely consider the luxury of consistently and
easily breathing clean air. My hometown allows me to see the stars more clearly
and smell the grass in ways I cannot whilst in Louisville, but compared to
China, these differences are insignificant. The air in the cities we visited
(Shanghai, Xi'an, & Beijing) looks and feels significantly less clean due
to the pollution. There's a blanket of smog that sits on the face of the
country, ever-threatening to grow thicker. As I watched people walk down the
streets with surgical masks on to protect themselves from the pollution, I
began to grow a bit paranoid, thinking that maybe I, too, should be wearing a
mask.
In the barefoot summer days of my youth, I used
to drink from the hose in my backyard. While that may not have been the most
sanitary or health-conscious thing to do, I never got sick. Each year we fill an entire swimming pool with that same
water- water safe enough to drink. In China, I can't drink from the tap water. Restaurants, when they serve water, typically serve it piping hot,
freshly boiled. I learned I don't mind drinking hot water unless I'm coming
inside sweaty from walking a few miles in the summer heat.
Living in Louisville, I have consistent access to
cold clean tap water. I can go running without worrying about the quality of
the air I'll breathe. Really, it would be very easy to go on ignoring the
problem of pollution and changing none of my current lifestyle habits. Hardly
anyone would blame me; most people are just as bad, if not worse. I used to
think that sustainability was important, but not a battle I was willing to
spend my life fighting. After all, you can't care earnestly about every issue
plaguing the world or you won't accomplish much of anything. During and since
the trip, however, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the moral
responsibility I have to minimize the damage I do. I’m reminded of the way I
was frequently urged as a child to leave a place better than I found it.
Likewise, I was reminded that for every mess made, be it toys at a friend’s
house, gum under a desk, or peanut shells on the Texas Roadhouse floor, there
was a someone who had to clean it up.
For all of one’s careless actions, there’s someone who is forced to care or
live with the consequences.
I’ve been researching and talking to my more
environmentally-conscious friends about small steps I can take to be a better
steward of my space on the planet. While you won’t likely catch me skipping my
daily shower to conserve water, I have started to think about the products I
purchase and the waste I create as a consumer of convenience. I’m realizing
more and more that what’s “convenient” and what’s selfish are often one and the
same. Even if my choices are made out of ignorance, it’s not because I don’t
have access to the information but rather that I don’t care enough to educate
myself. Being environmentally-conscious shouldn’t be relegated to a political
party or a select group of tree-hugging, granola hippies. Caring about the
environment is, at its core, not about the planet but about the people who live
on it.
Georgiana Sook, of Owensboro, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville, where she studies English and Psychology.