There has been an influx of news stories this last week about choosing not to have children for environmental reasons. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the American Democratic Representative kicked things off by posting a video asking whether climate change means we should stop having children.
In the video, posted on her Instagram account, Alexandria said: “Our planet is going to hit disaster if we don’t turn this ship around…it does lead young people to have a legitimate question; is it ok to still have children?”.
On the back of that there was a twitter frenzy, and many people in support of AOC’s views shared the facts and stats around the personal lifestyle choices we can make to reduce our impact on the world.
Question: What is at the top of every ‘How can I do my bit for the environment?’ list?
Answer: Have one less child
Having one less child saves around 58 tonnes of CO2 per year, making this personal choice to tackle climate change far more effective than any of the other changes we often talk about, like recycling (0.21), going vegan (0.8) and driving a more efficient car (1.2). In comparison, those things barely touch the sides of the problem.
So, it’s unsurprising that young women (and men) that care deeply about future of our planet are making the choice to remain childfree. Cue: the #Birthstrike movement that have been getting a lot of press today. Birthstrike are a group of around 60 men and women who have made the decision not to bear children ‘due to the severity of climate breakdown predictions’.
I watched an interview with a couple of the members on the Victoria Derbyshire show and it was quite sad to see women talking about ‘being afraid’ to have children and being ‘so depressed’ at the current state of affairs. If these are women that would love to experience motherhood but are sacrificing that in order to tackle climate change, then I applaud them and I really hope their efforts brings about the system change they are looking for. (And what’s that they say about childfree women being selfish?...)
On the back of the press for Birthstrike, I was invited on BBC Radio Leeds to talk to Liz Green about reasons for choosing to be childfree. We spoke about why childfree people feel the need to justify their decision and what those reasons are; including to save the planet.
You can listen again here: (The audio is over an infographic of the impact of climate change choices, credit: https://phys.org/news/2017-07-effective-individual-tackle-climate-discussed.html)
It got me thinking about whether many parents even think about the impact of their decision to have children on the planet... I certainly didn't, although I'm glad it's another added bonus.
Mrs.T x
What we did last week: This week Mr.T and I celebrated seven fabulous years together 😊 We spent the weekend in Bristol visiting one of my besties which meant lots of awesome food, great wine and good times. (For the foodies among you, I highly recommend Bar Buvette in Bristol who serve THE most amazing grilled cheese!)
What I didn’t do: Scoop human feaces out of the bath (but I know someone that did 😉)