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20 Ways to Control Population and Save the Planet
Today’s use of water,
air, land, and forests is placing unprecedented pressure on the environment -
intensified by urbanization, globalization and migration. Already, demand for
water exceeds supply in parts of the world and the land available for crops is
decreasing. While millions struggle for a decent standard of living, the top one
fifth live a high-consumption, high-waste lifestyle: the richest 20 per cent of
the world’s people and countries account for 86 per cent of private consumption.
WHY BE CONCERNED:
- Every 20 minutes,
the world adds another 3,500 human lives but loses one or more entire species
of animal or plant life - at least 27,000 species per year.
- Population is
growing faster than food supplies in 64 of 105 developing countries. Overcultivation,
primarily due to population pressures, has degraded some 2 billion hectares
of arable land --- an area the size of Canada and the United States combined.
- Since 1990,
the elephant population in Vietnam has plunged from between 1,500 and 2,000
individuals to barely 100. Logging, agriculture and human resettlement programs
are pushing the elephants out of their traditional homes and into increasing
conflict with humans.
- Over the past
50 years nearly half of the world's original forest cover has been lost. Current
demand for forest products may exceed the limits of sustainable consumption
by 25 percent.
- Global paper
use has grown more than six-fold since 1950. One fifth of all wood harvested
in the world ends up in paper. It takes 2 to 3.5 tons of trees to make one
ton of paper.
- Unless fossil
fuel use slows dramatically, the Earth's temperature could rise to as high
as 6 degrees above the 1990 level by 2100, according to the latest climate
models. Such an increase could lead to acute water shortages, declining food
production, and the proliferation of deadly diseases such as malaria and dengue
fever.
WHAT YOU CAN
DO:
Reproductive Health/Family
Planning
- Be aware of
the number of children that you and your partner desire to have
- Adopt a child
- Sponsor an
adoptive child
- Practice male
responsibility
- Condemn all
forms of force or coercion in reproductive health care
- Support the
use and distribution of birth control or condoms
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Women’s Rights
and Empowerment
- Encourage education
beyond the eighth grade
- Increase economic
opportunities for women through skills training
- Encourage community
involvement
- Work to increase
personal income especially among the newly urbanized (increases tendency to
have less children)
- Provide jobs
or small business opportunities for women
- Give women a
voice in government
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Maternal and Neonatal
Health
- Assure quality
pre-natal and post-natal care
- Encourage and
sponsor immunization programs
- Involve men
as partners in assisting with pregnancies and childcare
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Education
- Become educated
about environmental and population issues by volunteering with an organization
that promotes such issues (PIRG- Public Interest Research Group)
- Strive for gender
equality
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Advocacy
- Write a letter
to your Congress member to support family planning and environmental legislation
- Vote for environmentally
conscious candidates
- Become educated
and informed by reading books and essays on overpopulation
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Source: Population
Institute
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