Schools · Eco-Chick

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The Avoided Topic

Original illustration for Eco Chick by Gregory Grigoriou of I See Dots

The Problem

This month, one of E/ The Environmental Magazine’s feature stories is about the the myth of the population dearth, the idea that we’re not replacing ourselves at quite the rate we have during the heights of human population growth, which occurred in the 1960′s. The doom and gloom predictions of economists that there won’t be enough young people to sustain economies in the future might have families considering a 3rd or 4th child. But look at the statistics and you’ll see that the Earth’s population is still zooming straight up. While it’s true that most of that growth is coming from people in developing nations, everyone plays a part:

Let’s look at the accelerating momentum of population growth. In the year 1000, there were an estimated 254 to 345 million people on the planet, mostly living agrarian lives. World population grew very slowly in those days. In 1200, 200 years later, there were still only 360 to 450 million people. Move all the way up to the relatively modern world, in 1700, and there were still only 600 to 679 million people sharing the planet.
The first billion was reached, probably, in 1802. But after that we really took off as a species. It took just 125 years to add the second billion, in 1927, and only 34 years to get to three billion, in 1961. Four billion (1974) took just 13 years, and five billion (1987) another 13. We crossed the six billion threshold in 1999, after only 12 years. When will we get to seven billion? How does 2012, just six years away, sound?

Americans, especially, are a more significant part of the continued population growth than people in most other Western nations. I’m sure you all saw the heralding of the 300 millionth American a few weeks ago, and it won’t be long before we get to 400 million:

The U.S. is the only industrialized nation with significant population growth, and a new report sees those burgeoning numbers as a factor in our unparalleled impact on the environment.
While Europe shrinks, U.S. population grows by just under one percent a year, which translates to 8,000 people a day, or three million per year. The 300 millionth American will either be born here (or move here) sometime this fall. According to Victoria Markham, executive director of the Connecticut-based Center for Environment and Population (CEP), the growth is magnified by a very high rate of resource consumption. “The U.S. has the largest per-capita environmental impact in the world,” she says, “not only in terms of resource use, but also the pollution and waste associated with it.”
The U.S. uses three times more water than the world average per capita, and (despite being only five percent of world population) consumes a quarter of its energy. Americans buy and use a lot of stuff, Markham says, but there’s more to it than that. Baby boomers, despite their relatively high level of environmental awareness, are also enjoying an unprecedented amount of wealth, living in larger houses on more land than any other generation in U.S. history. What’s more, she says, the nation’s number of households is also increasing dramatically as families fragment. (Average household size dropped from 3.1 persons in 1970 to 2.6 in 2000, according to U.S. Census figures.)

The Solution

For us all to live as healthfully as we can, while still leaving places for nature to be nature, there have to be fewer people. This is the only way I can see for human beings to continue into the future without using up all the resources on Earth. And I’m not talking about cutting population in developing countries (though I’m certainly not opposed to supporting birth control and family planning for those places), but starting at home. The only people you can really change are you and your friends and family.

You’re not just using a lifetime’s worth of resources when you have a baby in this country, you are using an American’s lifetime’s worth of resources. Think about that, and your one baby might as well be triplets. I’m not suggesting that we legislate the number of children people have, but I think we should question this whole idea that it’s ‘OK’ or responsible in some way to have 2 or 3 kids. Because when those 2 or 3 children are Americans, they will be consuming much more than their peers throughout the rest of the world.

Baby, car, cars, children, cities, consumption, eating, Energy, Europe, fall, farm, farms, health, Home, kids, magazine, mom, opinion, Pollution, reduce, resources, schools, spa, sport, style, Tea, transportation, travel, trees, urban, waste, water, wetlands, wood, Zoo

Campus Climate Challenge hits 350

1 Comment

by Summer Rayne Oakes · 10/30/06

Firstly, isn’t that the coolest logo you’ve seen for climate change? F’ing brilliant. It makes such a statement. I got my Campus Climate Challenge organic cotton tee in the mail not too long ago, so I’ll be sporting that down the road… but really I have to hand it to my buds at the CCC and Energy Action: you’re really doing some awesome stuff. I was happy to go to your website and see that you have 350 schools signed on to your initiative. Keep on pumping them out; we got some @$$-kicking to do over in that there White House.

climate change, cotton, Energy, Organic, organic cotton, schools, sport, white house

CHEC: Children's Health Environmental Coalition

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by Kimberly Jordan Allen · 10/21/06

The Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating awareness and preventive action through educating parents, caregivers, and the general public about environmental toxins and the importance of living a sustainable existence. Focusing on our youth, the CHEC hopes to minimize unnecessary exposure to man-made toxins that exist in our homes and public spaces, thereby preventing risk and generating grassroots action.

The CHEC is supported by a diverse group of board members who span vast sectors of the environmental spectrum. Some of these members are: Erin Brockovich-Ellis, the Director of Environmental Research at the Masry & Vititoe law firm in Los Angeles, Olivia Newton-John, Tessa Hill, whose son Clinton Hill founded Kids for Saving Earth before he died of cancer, and James and Nancy Chuda, who founded the CHEC after losing their daughter Colette, at five years old, to a form of environmentally derived cancer that was preventable.

The Chudas have been prominent in the realm of environmental education and reform. After losing their daughter at such a tragically young age, they began a foundation in her name that became the CHEC. Legislation has passed, including the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 that was signed into law in September of that year, in large part due to their passion and commitment to creating a healthier world for our children, and the CHEC is an organization that pays homage to their cause in a myriad of ways. With public representatives such as Laura Dern, Amy Brenneman, Leo DiCaprio, Myra Goodman of Earthbound Farms, Jeffrey Hollender of 7th Generation, and Meryl Streep, as well as professors, scientists and administrators from Yale, UCLA, Harvard, and the National Institute of Health Sciences, the CHEC is a prominent voice for environmentalism in the international community.

The CHEC has a new blog that focuses on precaution, prevention and self-empowerment when it comes to making our homes and the surrounding environment as safe as possible for ourselves and our children. The blog is sharp looking and well-written – highly recommended for anyone interested in living organically.

Cancer, car, children, coal, community, design, eating, farm, farms, health, Home, kids, Los Angeles, magazine, Organic, rum, schools, spa, sustainable, Toxins

Wildlife Works

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by Starre Vartan · 09/25/06

I’m so beyond broke, but the next time I have some cash burning a hole in my pocket, I know where I’m going to go shopping: Wildlife Works. Not only is their stuff riduculously adorable and totally my style, but everything is made from environmentally-friendly materials (mostly organic cotton). AND the profits from the sale of the clothes go to support habitat conservation in Africa. AND they hire locals to work in both the factory and on the wildlife reserve. They explain:

In Kenya, Africa, our Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary has opened a key migration corridor for endangered elephants, cheetahs, wild dogs, zebras and 43 other large mammal species.
Formerly this area was rife with poaching. Currently, for every person making clothes at Rukinga Africa, we have one person on guard against poachers. Therefore as clothing sales build in the UK and the US, we can afford to protect more wildlife and more critical bio-diverse land.
We work closely with the local community in building schools and helping educate youngsters and their elders alike, regarding the positive effects of wildlife conservation.
As sales build and the factory becomes busier, we employ more people in conservation to look after more wildlife and more land.