When you are having your coffee on the AUB Main Gate; when you are headed to Monot on a Saturday night; when trying to study for your exam in Jafet library or having lunch somewhere on Bliss; it is hard for you to find space for one more concern. Your agenda is set, your schedule is hectic as is and no amount of caffeine is enough to keep you awake and sober to take a minute and think about the environment. This seems fair enough, but not when you get skin cancer as your 28th birthday present. This could be pure bad luck, or it could be the polluted water you used to swim in when you were 19. Although you would not know what had caused it, you are going to go back in time. Back to that hot August summer day when you heard all the fuss about the oil spill but were too lazy to care or do something about it. Lying on your hospital bed, you would look back and think “what if it could have been different?”

People can make the difference, aware citizens can make a difference, and most of all, students can make a difference. Here in AUB, the environment club is offering you the chance to make a change, a minimal contribution leading to optimal outcomes. This is not about attending boring lectures or distributing flyers at the main gate entrance. This is about fun outdoor activities such as camping, making new friends, getting the scoop about upcoming NGO projects and having something interesting to tell your friends for a change. This is not only about picking up garbage, as wisely said by Maya Tawil, president of the Environment Club. This is about having fun while trying to see the world from a different perspective. The club is planning a series of projects covering the oil spill issue, currently the number one priority. A general environmental awareness week, a recycling plan in AUB and a healthy, environment-friendly day are also on this year’s agenda.

When asked about the major challenges faced by the Environment Club, Tawil’s immediate response was the lack of commitment and enthusiasm among students. With currently 24 registered members, some of whom are using the club to improve their CVs, the remaining number of effectively active members is negligible. When asked to compare the club’s past achievements with today’s lack of commitment, Tawil’s answer was, “One should focus on today, not yesterday.” Hoping that the coming years will bring more awareness and devotion to her cause, she seems determined that challenges can be overcome.

It is hard to understand this lack of dedication among Lebanese youth since the past few years revealed how intensely driven they are by political issues, dilemmas and quarrels. They forget that politics is a means to a different end; that it is merely the instrument though which society achieves social, economic and environmental well-being. Politics is “the art of the possible,” so get hyped about what you could possibly change about your societies, your environment and your well-being before it gets quite impossible to do anything about it.

When you pass by hectic West Hall on Clubs Day on October 11 and 12, do not rush your steps and turn red in an attempt to avoid chaos. Instead, take a deep breath, and go green.