For example, the post above was linked at the Inhabitat Facebook site and while some comments are smart and balanced, others were more extreme, i.e. akin to, “Having kids is selfish…” or “The crazy thing is that many of the humans that are breeding out of control are well educated environmentalists that know that we have already exceeded the earths carrying capacity…” and so on. It’s not just here either. Lots of people offline and on have said stuff like this to me.

Is it selfish to have kids? OR are you only selfish if you have more than one? How about if you have one kid, a gas guzzling hummer and like to buy plastics and own four televisions? Are you more selfish than a recycling family with four kids, a solar powered home, and an organic garden? Who is the biggest eco-loser?

It’s not only a totally gray area but it’s almost impossible to argue for population control. Why, because if you’re arguing for population control, you were already born which makes you yelling about no more babies seem sort of silly, no?

If we’re going to argue that people who have kids are selfish maybe we should also argue that people who let granddad live so long are selfish too. Extreme? Maybe; but then so is the idea that childbearing is selfish. To me, consumer choice is a larger issue than the baby having choice. I think it’s selfish to own a McMansion or four cars, but then, that’s just my opinion.

There are some balanced arguments going on though (thankfully). For example, one of the fellas over at the Facebook argument posted this link – Population and Sustainability: Can We Avoid Limiting the Number of People?. It’s a balanced piece plus they point out what my major argument is – that the actions of one can matter just as much as the actions of many.  The piece notes…

“Nature, of course, couldn’t care less how many of us there are. What matters to the environment are the sums of human pulls and pushes, the extractions of resources and the injections of wastes. When these exceed key tipping points, nature and its systems can change quickly and dramatically. But the magnitudes of environmental impacts stem not just from our numbers but also from behaviors we learn from our parents and cultures. Broadly speaking, if population is the number of us, then consumption is the way each of us behaves. In this unequal world, the behavior of a dozen people in one place sometimes has more environmental impact than does that of a few hundred somewhere else.”

I have one child, but honestly, I’d have another and not assume that it’s a negative eco issue. What would be negative is if I raised my child/children to behave in irresponsible ways. However, I do teach conservation at home and my son is already way greener than I am (at age eight) so hopefully he’ll grow up and be part of a larger solution.

It’s a tricky issue, and I’m for thinking it through before you have a baby, plus making sure you pass on eco-traits to your kids, but I’m never going to think that limiting kids is the real answer to all of our eco-issues. The babies haven’t created these issues, past generations have.

What do you think?

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

In continuing with my reviews this week, I thought it would be nice to look at a holiday-minded product. On with the show…

Product: Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family by Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell

Basics: Celebrate Green is a mama-daughter book collaboration – the title is fairly self-explanatory – this is a book about all things related to green holiday celebrations.

Cost: Family friendly at only $17.95. Plus for a limited time, you can score an even better deal. “Right now when you order a copy of Celebrate Green! from our website, you can choose between a box of organic truffles from Sjaaks for one penny plus shipping or a free jar of fair trade whipped shea butter from Vintage Body Spa for nothing but shipping.” That’s a great value. Especially during the holiday season.

What I think:

There are many outward positive aspects of this book. For example, it’s printed on 100% recycled FSC certified paper, which more books should be. There’s also a highly interactive website going on for this book. Plenty of green tips, author info, and fun stuff is offered, along with a value on reader participation.

Pros:

I like how the book is set up: The table of contents is divided into seasons, and then sub-holidays under each season. Spring through winter holidays are offered and a cool section with year round holidays -such as birthdays, family reunions, and baby showers. The last section is very nice with a great big list of helpful green websites (three pages worth) and a green-smart glossary. There are also blank page sections in the back of the book where you can make notes about each season. This book is super easy to skim through and find what you need, and their index pages are actually very well done (I’m sick of poor indexes).

I like the design: The design is simple but easy to follow. The colors flow through the book in soothing sage and browns. Important information is either in a solid color block, or has a great big header; both of which really break up the text in a bite size way. Also, each holiday is clearly marked in the bottom page corner – which is nice, so if you’re flipping through spring, you’ll see where Easter topics end and Earth Day begins.

The holidays are covered well: It would be impossible to go through how they discuss each holiday, but trust me, plenty of green tips are covered for each holiday. I’m going to use Cinco de Mayo and 4th of July as examples.

In the Cinco de Mayo chapter some of the various items covered include:

• Eco issue facing Mexico in general, and how you can help.
• Organic veggie enchilada recipe.
• Paper bag pinata instructions.
• And more.

In the 4th of July chapter some of the various items covered include:

• The dish on if fireworks are green and air quality and child labor issues related.
• Alternatives to fireworks and how to safely manage them.
• Recycling bin contest idea.
• Three worthy summer eco-causes you can support.
• How to organic up your picnic.
• Choosing eco-friendly summer drinks including where to score eco-beer.
• News about tap water.
• Organic Red, White, and Blueberry muffin recipe.
• Fun family activities that don’t kill the earth.
• And more.

So, as you can see, each holiday not only focuses on the green aspects of the holiday, but also on other green issue important to the season – that is pretty cool.

Cons:

I couldn’t really find many cons about this book. My only issue is that the text is a little wordy. (Like I’m one to talk though). The intro was really long, a little too long for my taste, and there’s a back story behind almost everything in this book, and in some cases I felt they could have just offered the tip and moved on. On the other hand, some people like that kind of thing, and as noted, I’m not exactly the most succinct human ever, so… take this with a grain of salt. It is what it is.

Celebrate Green final score:

Five out of five happy trees. This is one of the most in depth green holiday resources I’ve seen. It’s also perfect for families. Very well balanced with both kid and adult friendly aspects. It’s not just for one member of the family. Also, right now, with the special deal going on, this is an extra great value for a green book. It would make a great holiday gift.

Learn more at Celebrate Green

Buy the book

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The Celsias Show hails from Celsias.com, an international environmental blog, and the goal of the show is to add some edgy humor, fun, and interactive elements to some serious issues like global warming, carbon credits, and more.

The show will continue to air live each Tuesday evening with comedian / host Doug Snodgrass at the helm. Snodgrass, a green blogger himself, brings a “Jon Stewart” sort of feel to the show.

Celsias sent me a friendly email about some ongoing show perks, which include…

• “Each show will kick off with a short comedic monologue.
• Counterpoints from a climate change “skeptic,” comic book artist contributor Ande Parks.
• Interviews with environmental experts, institution directors, scientists, and other heavy hitters.
• Interactivity: Folks can listen or contribute directly by calling live and having questions broadcast on-air
• Slightly off-color humor”

The first Celsias Show aired last week and featured an interview with Janet Larsen, Research Director from the Earth Policy Institute. Tonight’s show should be killer; it’s all about carbon credits, and let’s face it, how many of us completely understand those? Even if you’re a carbon credit expert it’s worth it to tune in, maybe you’ll learn something new, or maybe you won’t agree with Snodgrass at all, and can tell him so.

If you’re a tree hugging manic or simply want to start learning about green issue, you should absolutely tune in to the Celsias Show tonight, (March 18th) at 8 pm PST.

If you check it out, come back and let me know what you think. If I get more over this darn bad cold that I’m harboring, I’ll be there watching too. If you can’t make it, they’ll air a fresh show next week and Celsias.com has plenty of green info, making it a site worth visiting anyhow.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family