Why Just Having Fewer Babies Cannot Be A Solution For Climate Change

Telling women to have fewer babies is not the solution to problems of climate change, no matter what some experts might say!

As a new parent, when I read articles that make heroes out of intelligent women who are choosing not to have children or those that state why women shouldn’t have children at all to protect the planet, it gets me thinking, to say the least.

Let’s first get a few things straight. For want of not going off on a tangent, let’s put aside the biased statement which puts only intelligent women on a pedestal.

I understand the problem here. It’s a huge moral one, the responsibility of which seems to lie on women alone, pressurizing them into a corner; either pulling them down for desiring babies or questioning them for not wanting any.

The world may need fewer babies to be born every day, but it needs smarter people more. To those out there who think that climate change is a direct result of little humans, think again.

Do you still use a plastic bag to line your waste bin?

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Do you still spray yourself with air polluting perfumes 5 times a day? Do your washing detergents have artificial fragrances and chemicals?

If your answer to these questions is ‘yes’ more than ‘no’, need I say more?

If anything, having a baby makes one more conscious of their choices. There are lovely, greener and less harmful options available around us. Most of these are so simple it’s a surprise we moved away from them in the first place. There are modern cloth diapers and plain ol’ steel containers, reusable toys, wooden toys, glass bottles, cotton wash clothes, washing detergents with natural components that don’t pollute the water. I can go on and on.

We need to educate ourselves into making smarter choices, ones that have little to no repercussions on the earth. And we have to keep at it till it becomes a wonderful habit.

Making healthier choices doesn’t mean eating leaves off the road and roaming around in a loin cloth. We always forget to find that quintessential ‘balance’. We just need to look around us for inspiration.

And we really need to stop judging and being critical of others. The next time you come across a frazzled parent and a kid, smile and be of help. It’s not their fault the earth is warming up!

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