Allow me: have you ever felt the satisfaction of doing the right thing?
It was a windy day and a younger me was riding home from a taekwondo lesson. Before crossing a bridge, I noticed that a road sign pole was lying on the ground. Without giving too much thought, I passed by and proceed to conquer the elevation of the bridge.
It was then I heard a voice urging me to go back and fix the road sign. It started soft, cheerful and almost itching. Yet it became increasing serious and critical with every foot I went farther, causing me to finally surrender and turned back just before reaching the top.
If you were driving on that road that afternoon, you would see a thirteen-year-old trying to lift and sustain a road sign pole that was taller than himself. If you had stopped and observed, you would also see after five minutes he decided to make a call to police, carefully laid the pole down on the side walk and rode away with a bright smile.
Yup, that was me, so naïve and foolish that it still embarrasses me when I write this line nine years later. But even after all these years, it’s still hard to hide the smile, knowing that I did the right thing. Simple as it was.
Looking back to that small incident, I wished everything could be that simple. Just do the silly right thing and enjoy that sense of satisfaction. I hoped I don’t have to doubt my decisions and I can experience the joy. But that wasn’t the case when I decided to come to study environment at Duke.
I was lucky to know that I am in love with the environment before entering college, but I wasn’t prepared then to face the facts—I came to knowing that air pollution is an issue in China, but I did not come prepared to see professors casually referring my hometown as one of the most polluted city in the world, I was not prepared to know that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record took place in this century, neither was I prepared to hear that two third of my classmates and I will suffer from air pollution induced diseases in our future lives.
It is not uncommon to feel disheartened and overwhelmed by the trouble we face. What can I do when the air pollution index at my home is constantly going beyond index? What can I do when companies are investing billions to suck oil out from the land and burn it? What can I possibly do when the whole civilization is steaming and roaring, sprinting full speed towards global warming? Thankfully after four years of education, I no longer feel helpless facing this question. True, the world is difficult and full of overwhelming questions. But perhaps there is still a way: do the right thing and shoulder the responsibilities.
As good-hearted but busy Duke students, we try really hard to do the best things when we have time and the easiest ones when we don’t. We often want to achieve the most with the least cost, sometimes so often that we forget to do the “right” thing. No doubt we want to have a better environment, but we’ve been trained to favor maximum efficiency that spontaneous cost-benefit calculations take place well before actions. It is “right” to protect the environment. Yet we dwell on the more “realistic” issues. “Impact” is one of them. How can saving a paper towel be at all helpful in protecting the rainforest? “Not my business” is another. Why should I take actions when it’s the other people/company/nation that is destroying our world?
To start with, doing right means take a step back. Focus not on the results, but on the action. An environmental friendly act can be miniscule and seemingly pointless. But that also means all it needs is a tiny nudge to persuade an action. Action empowers itself and the actor.
Feeling good helps sometimes, but the joy of achievement can easily be offset by the pain over the course. In order to gain courage and determination, it takes a step further to think about the world. Saving the environment is never the easy thing, but it is the right thing to do, a cause worth fighting for and a responsibility to be shouldered. I came across this question in a lecture: when saving the environment, who exactly should we answer for? Typical answers are the Earth and human ourselves. But I found it was a third answer that provided the strongest sense of urgency and responsibility. We answer for millions of innocent species that went extinct because of our deeds. Such has been the strongest reason for me to carry on, regardless when I am at Duke, or when I am leaving in a few months.
When I first came to Duke, I thought I would find the cure for all. Four years later, I am not prepared to save the world, but at least I’m ready to do my work. So let this be my last shout out.
Act, please, for the sake of the future of ourselves and our loving ones.
Act, please, for the sake of the admirable Earth which we used to know and love.
Act, please, for the sake of the innocent men and creatures who suffered our deeds.
Act, please, when there is still a way for us to go.
Rui Wang is a Trinity senior. This column is the second installment in a semester-long series of biweekly columns written by members of Environmental Alliance.
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