The Most Important R in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
by When we look at the cause of most of our world problems, famine, over-fishing, global warming, deforestation, and so forth, the ultimate root cause is human demand. As we have a constant growth in population we are constantly increasing the rate of demand. The R we need to Reduce, is ourselves.
As a response to an earlier warning from the United Nations regarding the population growth, many countries have seen a decrease in birth rates, but combined with the lowered mortality rates, very little improvement will be seen. Other countries and individuals need to act responsibly.
Not Convinced?
If you are younger than thirty years old, or live in the inner city, you probably do not see the problem as widely as older people do, or people who live in the Suburbs. I am in my forties. What was the edge of the city I grew up in is now miles from the edge of town. Urban sprawl has consumed farm land at an alarming rate. Every year I see growth as the demand for housing and shops pushes farmers off their land.
According to the 2007 CIA World Factbooks, the population at that time was growing by 211,090 people daily, undoubtedly this number is higher today. This means that daily, more than 211,000 people are born than are dying. When these people reach adulthood, where will they all live?
Photo Source http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Angry_baby.jpg
Does all this Make you Angry?
A simple solution is for couples to decide to limit themselves to one child only. Granted some will have twins, or triplets, and some will not have children at all. If people select to act now before governments step in to rule, it will benefit us all. What if we leave it too late and governments not only pass ruling about how many children people can have, but about how long we can live, or whom can have children at all? Interestingly enough studies have shown that more intelligent people are in fact acting now, and having smaller families already.
Concerns about a Suffering Economy
An argument is often made that we need growth to keep the economy strong. Will the economy really matter if we are at war over land and food? Or if the skies are so polluted we have to breathe through masks? In truth the economy perhaps needs to learn to work within the confines of a stable population base so that we can remain sustainable as a population.
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Post CommentWill Gray
On January 4, 2009 at 11:56 am
Great article! I agree!
Darla Smith
On January 4, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Interesting article!
s hayes
On January 4, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Excellent well researched article
Sotiris
On January 4, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I don’t think that there is a problem with population. Scientists believe that Earth can feed up to 18 Billion people. The only bad thing is that few are wealthy and most of people starve to death. If only there was a way to divide the wealth fairly to all people, then we could see better days! Nice article, but I don’t agree with reducing population!
Ispellbad
On January 4, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I agree with some of this not all! Intresting artical!
Joie Schmidt
On January 4, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Exceptional work – thank you for sharing this invaluable piece*
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Clay Hurtubise
On January 4, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Good piece. At present I think we have greater issues than population growth. We, in the U.S, consume far too much of earth’s resources. The world can handle a lot more, but it up to us to do better. Urban sprawl is now reversing. Further reduction could be attained by better regulations on land use, density allowances for cities, and more ‘walkable’ urban planning.
Thanks,
Clay
Ruby Hawk
On January 4, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I agree that we in the developed countries consume too much.We have too much waste and our farmland and woodland is taken up by urban sprawl.We can consume much less and we must.
PR Mace
On January 4, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Well done, thought provoking article.
Brian Daniel Stankich
On January 4, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Well written. An important but complex topic. I tend to agree with Sotiris and agree with others that ‘western’ lifestyle is out of control in some ways, while hundreds of millions suffer needlessly. Brian
eddiego65
On January 8, 2009 at 8:43 am
Excellent piece! I completely agree.
natureboy529
On January 9, 2009 at 9:48 am
Interesting stuff!
Michele Cameron Drew
On January 9, 2009 at 10:20 pm
This is a great article, with a very powerful and important message! I wholeheartedly agree. This wasn’t so noticeable back in our days, but the overcrowding has already begun to be noticeable to people my age and older. It is a very scary thing. I often worry about future generations
-M
Debra.
On January 9, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Oh, I also agree. Overpopulation is producing mass quantities of starvation, loss of jobs and wildlife. If it isn’t controlled soon, people will soon die off because the planet simply cannot support it’s human inhabitants.
Great article.
Glynis Smy
On January 10, 2009 at 1:11 am
I think with the world economy some changes in the way folk think about having large families. Here in Cyprus, financial handouts to folk for having a 3rd and 4th child ensures that the race survives, but at what cost eventually? (word has it a car is offered now for the 4th adding to the environmental burden)!
Interesting article, a lot to discuss and think about.Good Work.
R J Evans
On January 10, 2009 at 2:14 am
Thanks you for bringing up the real elephant in the room where the future of our planet is concerned. For some reason people are a little shy to point out that if population was controlled then we could more easily solve many other problems. We are truly a plague of biblical proportions and gaia will find a way to stop us if we do not do it ourselves!
Juancav
On January 10, 2009 at 7:44 am
As nations develop educationally, address this problem, do not forget that the economic situation in the world women joined the work, and this increase is devoted to family or work outside the home, not always for vocation, but by necessity. The important thing is not to reach a legal justification for the killing of a unborn.
B Nelson
On January 10, 2009 at 6:05 pm
to comment #17
I am not talking about “Killing of an unborn” I am talking about preventing pregnancy in the first place.
OhSugar
On January 19, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I love children. I regret having just two,I lost my only son three years ago. However, I don’t think I would want to have so many children that I couldn’t give them a quality life. Thanks for the article.