The Greening of Me – Part I

The other days I found a website which chronicled one woman’s home birth of her fifth child. She was surrounded by her midwife, husband and little kiddies and between you and me, my initial eye rolling and skepticism turned to tears by the end of this touching photo sequence. So I stumbled it as a favorite. When I looked to see what other folks had to say about the site, I found this remark:

Good for them and all… But I can’t help but think that having a fifth child, a fifth American child, is an act of monumental greed in this day and age. I know it is impolite to say it, but it’s true. It just is.

This reminded me of the final chapters of Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us where he interviews a group called The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. VHEMT advocates Phasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed [to] allow Earth’s biosphere to return to good health. Their motto is “May we Live Long and Die Out.” Here’s what VHEMT thinks about makin’ babies:

VHEMT Volunteers love babies as much as anyone else. “Having babies” is not so much the problem — having adults is what’s causing the problems. The environmental impact of disposable diapers is heavy, but we are adults much longer than we are children.

People who envision having a baby often forget that they are creating an entirely new human being …Children’s welfare will improve as there are fewer of them to care for. Considering the future world we are creating for future generations, procreation today is like renting rooms in a burning building — renting them to our children no less.

That last line gets me too. Who wants to hand over a pile of crap to someone you’ve worked so hard to bring into it in the first place? Add to that the fact that by some calculations there’s only 4 years and 262 days left until the end of the world (according to the Mayan Calendar) and hell, is all of this poking and prodding going to be worth it?

I’m only partly joking.

I have been thinking a lot about our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment in general. Still far below the national average since we live in a city, walk nearly everywhere and are, let’s say “frugal” when it comes to most purchases. But it’s not nothing.

My next post will detail some of the things hubby and I are doing to minimize our imprint on the earth in order to justify the addition of another one to it.

(photo credit)