Would you like a side of hypocrisy to go with that idealism?

As a natural resource conservation volunteer I have to deal with an extra challenge that doesn't quite apply to other Peace Corps volunteers. There is a certain element of irony (to put it nicely) in me as an American doing environmental conservation work in Ecuador. Essentially, I flew 3,000 miles from a country that has the world's highest rates of wasteful consumerism and environmental degradation to a place where most people don't own cars or washing machines to teach them about saving the environment.

I thought a lot about the ridiculousness of this situation before deciding to join the Peace Corps. I was worried that Ecuadorians would immediately see through my "do as I say and not as I do" message and not take me seriously. Luckily, this hasn't been the case. Most of the Ecuadorians I've worked with have been incredibly welcoming, eager to collaborate, and passionate about environmental issues. In fact as a whole Ecuadorians are far more cooperative and open to environmentalism than the Americans I talked to while working on global warming issues in Chicago.

However, yesterday giving a workshop on environmental education to teachers at a local high school I finally had my hypocritical skeleton pulled out of the closet. After the workshop finished I was talking to a science teacher about international environmental issues when he asked me, "Why hasn't the United States done anything to establish better control of the large industries that are causing global warming?" I explained that it was a very complicated political and economic issue and that while many Americans are in favor of more regulations other people don't believe that global warming is real or that it should be the American government's job to stop it. To which he logically replied, "Well then why aren't you in your own country changing their attitude about the environment?"

Yikes. That's a stumper. I told him that I fully intend to return to America after two years and do just that but for now I wanted to learn more about Ecuador and the environmental issues here. He seemed satisfied enough with my lame response. But I kept thinking about his question all day.

"Why wasn't I fighting the battle for the environment in my own country?” The United States certainly has more power to address the biggest international environmental challenges than Ecuador does. On the one hand my decision to come to Ecuador was purely selfish. I wanted to travel, to see the incredible beauty of the Andes and the Amazon. Also, I must admit the work I get to do here is a lot more gratifying and interesting. In America I would be lost in the labyrinth of political tension, money, and public apathy that is environmental advocacy. I might feel eventually that I had contributed some small piece to the passing of a new progressive law but overall it’s a battle that requires huge efforts for very slow results. In Ecuador I get to see the tangible and immediate impact of my work. I can see how many schools implement new environmental education programs, how many farmers begin experimenting with organic agriculture, and how many acres of land are reforested because of my efforts. Too often environmental activism in America feels like just words here in Ecuador it’s all about action.

I also know that I will eventually be a much more effective environmentalist because of my time spent in Ecuador. I have seen first hand a different way of living that uses less resources and produces less waste and I will bring that back to America. The chance to see a different perspective on the world and its future has forever changed my outlook on what exactly I am fighting for as an environmentalist. When I go back to America and enter once again into that labyrinth of politics, money, and apathy I will know for certain that the world is a lot bigger than the Senator who doesn’t believe in global warming or the thousands of Americans who think the pollution of today can be dealt with by the generations of tomorrow. When that labyrinth seems impossible to untangle what I have learned in Ecuador will give me hope.