Comments on: How many is too many?

By: sandrar

sandrar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:41:54 +0000

Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.

By: ClareSnow

ClareSnow — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:18:14 +0000

I look forward to our world being just like you describe :)

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:57:14 +0000

You pose big questions for all of us, Clare.

I wish in an idealistic way for every child born to be planned for, nurtured and its needs are met simply by loving and responsible parents. I stress the word ’simply’ as I feel industries, technologies and the profit motive target heartstrings involving pregnancy and having babies. The wants are complex and contribute to the carbon imprints. The needs can be more simply met with less impact on our environment.

It’s my dream for all children alive today to drink clean water, live in a safe place, to eat locally grown home-cooked organic food, and to have access to health care. We can all make a difference in the simple daily choices we make. Put quality back into our living practices.

The population isues you raise are undeniably complex. We’re all involved in our own ways. There’s a saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Learning about sustainable living practices can be started very early in life. Actively engage our children in their learning to think creatively about population and ecological issues. How they can be part of the growing solution(s)?

By: willem

willem — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:11:18 +0000

Clare,
This is the question I really struggle with. I have two kids and I would not want to miss them for the world…. (no pun intended). I also would always recommend other people to have kids, they are the best thing. But….. I agree with your comment about population. Increased population and increased affluence across the globe are the biggest threats to our future…. We live longer etc. One good thing is that affluent societies tend to have less kids per capita in fact this is the “negative birth rate” statistics that our former federal treasurer liked to quote.

Being an educator, I also strongly agree with your comment about education. Not only about birth control, but also about sustainable living and ecological impact. I can’t stress ecological footprint calculators enough.

So what do I do? I guess all I can do is live as low-impact as possible and teach my kids the same.. Hopefully if we all do this we might have time to find other sustainable solutions (I have to believe in science too).

By: ClareSnow

ClareSnow — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:43:39 +0000

In western countries our longevity is more of a problem. Modern medicine and hygiene practices have a lot to answer for! There’s no fair way to solve longevity, except if a lot of people decide they’ll euthanaise themselves as a present for their great grand kids :) I’m not volunteering!

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:31:41 +0000

I wonder about how to solve this issue too. I’m not planning on having kids myself, but I think a lot of people aren’t aware how much of a problem it is. I guess education is, as always, very important!