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Things to ponder on Earth Day

Monday marks Earth Day, 2019. It’s a time to celebrate our planet and serves as a reminder to protect our natural resources, not just for our lifetime, but for future generations. Every day, we are told ways to decrease our carbon footprint, and I like to think most of us try to do that. Sure, we can recycle our trash and stop using plastic straws, but the greatest environmental impact we can make is to limit our family size.

It’s advice that almost always draws outrage. The minute you advocate considering something other than parenthood, you often are accused of not loving children. But this advice actually is born out of love for children and humankind in general.

The United Nations projects the world population will increase by another billion people within the next 10 years, reaching 8.5 billion in 2030, then increasing to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100.

That’s a lot of people, but it doesn’t really mean a whole lot unless we put it in terms of resource use. By 2050, with 9.7 billion people, if we continue using resources at the current rate, our one planet will need three times the amount of resources that exist on the Earth just to sustain life.

The result will be an increase in poverty, homelessness, famine, disease and suffering for the poorest among us.

Don’t get me wrong. I am in no way advocating for family size mandates or telling everyone in the world to stop having children. However, it is time to consider the effects your personal choices can have on children of the future. You care about all children, right?

The number of forward-thinking people who advocate for a smaller population is growing, but there’s a reason you don’t hear much about them. Alistair Currie is head of campaigns and communications at the charity known as Population Matters. She says choosing to have fewer or no children is essential to ensuring people have a “decent living” on the planet in 50 years’ time. Currie also says it’s hard to estimate how many people are choosing not to have children mostly because they feel judged as being inadequate or selfish, when the opposite is actually the case.

On this coming Earth Day, please consider giving greater thought to parenthood. At the very least, try offering as much praise to those who choose not to have children as you do to those who reproduce, and reproduce and reproduce.

Marjie DeFede

Rayland

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