Wondering how to live greener? You've come to the right place. Each week we challenge ourselves to try a new task ... or "amp up" something we're already doing. We raise our awareness, learn from each other and develop Eco-friendly skills which will improve our lives and protect our planet. Doing so together gives us power ... the power to Change The World!
If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far.
This post contains great information and I encourage you to read through it at your leisure ... however, if you are short on time, you might find the following quick links helpful:
Last week we began a conversation about population growth and its environmental consequences. Many people tend to think of the problem in terms of birth. While that is certainly a factor, it's only one part of a very complex situation. In fact, fertility rates in the world have actually gone down ... and yet, predicted population numbers are beyond our wildest imagination. Longevity, medical intervention, poverty, education, etc. all play important roles in this story. Our goal, last week, was simply to begin talking about the problem.
The Honor Society are those people who help us spread the "green" word by writing an article about our challenges and/or leaving pertinent comments.
Dani joined us and left this comment which gives us a lot to think about: "A population of 9.7 billion would certainly be hard to feed. Or would it? If pandering to the wealthy with their year round exotic food requirements was severely restricted, and restaurants were penalized for throwing away perfectly good food because their portion sizes are too large / not palatable, there would certainly be more food for the masses and less food thrown into skips. Then we have the whole issue of using land for growing crops for fuel instead of food... Seems to me mankind is wandering down the wrong path and catering for inappropriate requirements. Providing for, and enforcing, communal transport would certainly reduce the provision of land for the production of fuel an free it up again for food. And, in addition, there are those greedy individuals who are renting vast area's of cheap land in Africa, paying a pittance for the labour, in order to grow crops to export - thereby reducing the land available for the locals to plant and grow for their specific requirements. All in all, I reckon that individual / corporate greed and the "I'm entitled" attitude is the root of all the feeding problems we are currently experiencing and will experience in the future."
Argentum Vulgaris maintains that births are not the problem. What is? Find out in Change the World Wednesday – 13th Aug. Argentum also offers readers some interesting thoughts on water. He recently began buying drinking water because his tap water became contaminated.
CelloMom wrote a very interesting post entitled Enough People. In it, she offers some facts about population growth. For example, economic prosperity does not, necessarily, affect fertility rates. She also suggests what might be the best solution to the problem. Can you guess what it is? CelloMom also shared a very interesting map which shows crops grown for human food versus animal feed and fuel: How much of the world's cropland is actually used to grow food?. The map and the corresponding article are sobering.
The Hottest Writers on the Web gave CTWW a nice mention. If you love to read, you'll love this paper ... books, authors, new releases, etc. are discussed.
Lois talked about family size and considered her own family tree to gain perspective. Change the World Wednesday, Population speaks to shelter, food, and the environmental impact of having children. She also asks an important question regarding regulation: "do any of us have the right to make that decision for another?"
EcoGrrl offered us a suggestion: "If you haven't, read the 1960's classic "The Population Bomb"."
It was so nice to see Michael Draper who dropped in and shared this: "Enjoyed reading your blog today. You always seem to have subjects that are important. thank you" Thank you, Mike!
Our Twitter friend, @AndreaPtak, joined the conversation and shared the following:
- #Population http://t.co/ZWbnV2pFrv works to achieve a sustainable balance between people and the #environment http://t.co/9mAUzazt2G
- Family Planning and empowering #women help save the #environment #resources #earth http://t.co/CWqBcw36YU...
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who tweet our challenges using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I recommend following them ... they share great things. Let's meet them:
My Final Thoughts:
Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Our numbers continue to grow. At some point, the earth will not be able to sustain us all. When that happens, we'll see wide-spread starvation, illness, homelessness, poverty, and death. We're already seeing areas where the supply of natural resources is insufficient to accommodate the populace. There are no clear answers to the situation. But it needs to be discussed if we're ever to find a solution. When the earth can no longer support us, we will suffer ... that much is true! Let's keep the conversation going in the hope that we'll find a solution which is good for us and the planet!
Thanks, everyone! If you wrote an article, I Stumbled, Tweeted, Facebooked and posted it on Google +. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share features located below this post.
This Week's Challenge:
 |
| The United States has only 12 truly quiet places* |
There are very few quiet areas left in the world. A quiet area is defined as somewhere you can go for at least 15 minutes without hearing artificial sound at dawn, the hour when sound travels farthest.
Change begins with awareness. So, let's raise ours!
Here's your challenge ...
This week, spend 15 minutes listening to the sounds in your area. You may wish to sit quietly in your home or out in nature. Perhaps you want to find out what noises you hear in a shopping mall or on a busy street. As you listen, try to hear the sounds of nature. Can you hear them or are they drowned out by man-made noise? The idea, this week, is to simply listen and identify sounds.
Ready to exercise your listening skills? I know that you are!
Until next time ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!
*Source: The Extinction of Quiet