Is Having Children Bad for the Planet?

I read something today that perturbed me as I do have quite a few kids but I am not thinking of having any more on purpose specifically because of my environmental concerns. The article was from last year and published last May in The Australian. It was by Sarah-Kate Templeton and all about how having children should be considered to be an environmental misdemeanor. Having too many children leaves a huge carbon imprint the same w ay as not recycling and driving big SUVs does. Most people are going to read this and glaze over. We need the SUVs to cart our large families around.
The original paper done on this concept was put together by the Optimum Population Trust. The idea behind it is that if each couple had two children instead of three the savings in carbon dioxide output would be the equivalent of 620 return flights a year between New York and London. Although this seems impressive I am like so many other humans wondering why I should go to the trouble of not breeding while millionaires are still allowed to fly around the world in their jet planes. I am thinking about people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta who supposedly care about the environment yet charter jet planes. Am I not supposed to procreate before some kind law cracks down on their indulgent behavior?
Does it surprise anyone reading this that the rest of the world thinks we are so selfish for having so many children when we have the birth control available to us to stop it? After the entire problem in so many underprivileged countries is that there is a lack of birth control. The result is too many babies, most of them starving. Many of the children in those countries don't even live long enough to leave a very big carbon imprint on the world. Yet we have these children that grow up to own one or more cars or homes and that insist on continuing cycles of consumerism that support industries that harm the environment. What's a mother to think? Is this survival of the fittest? Or survival of the bullies?
People make a big deal about Earth Hour and shutting off their lights for one hour but really effective change would be accomplished by not having a kid. By comparison the savings in energy when it comes to things like shutting off all of your lights at night or lowering your thermostat seem like spits in the bucket.
John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London said – “The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.” I would cap that statement off with an advisory to adopt one as well.
According to Guillebaud, The British fertility rate is 1.7. The European average is 1.5. Despite this, Professor Guillebaud says rich countries should be the most concerned about family size as their children have higher per capita carbon dioxide emissions.

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Why Cooking With You Is Good For Kids

According to a show I watched on ABC ( the Dish Network) recently about cooking with your kids there is a lot more to it than just teaching them a life skill that they can use the rest of their lives. There are also many other benefits.

Learning to cook with me could increase a kid's vocabulary in general. They learn more exotic terms like baste or agitate or steam. They also learn a fair amount of math especially when it comes to using the measuring cups and measuring spoons. Studies have been done at Harvard that also prove that parents that who have a little bit of dinner conversation with their children tend to raise kids who are smarter and have larger vocabularies.

Letting your kid cook with you makes he or she feel trusted and like you know that they can achieve great things. Cooking is confidence building. They feel the sense of accomplishment and feel like they are contributing to the family. Furthermore it is a chance during a very busy day to spend quality time with your kids. It is important to view them as help in the kitchen and not as a liability so this can work. Remember it is key to teach your kid the value of teamwork and the joys of giving and sharing.

By doing this and sitting down together for a meal you train your kids not to eat in front of the television. Kids that don't eat in front of the boob tube have more respect for their bodies, as they are more aware of what they are putting into it.

Another good aspect is that if you make an agreement with yourself to cook with your kids more you will find yourself spending less time with them in restaurants. Making your own junk food is also cheaper and economical.

Nutritionally eating and cooking with your kids is also superior, as you are not generally eating junk food while you are cooking. Usually home cooked meals are low in calories and fat. By feeding them at home you are also teaching your kid to have a discerning food palate and crave more than one kind of food. They also become more manually dexterous and are more likely to be able to be trusted with a cooking implement like a knife when you are not around as they have had some practice using it.

Educationally kids can use organizational and creative talents while cooking. Decorating a cake or making a pizza usually involves a bit of a visual sense or the food will look unattractive. Kids also become more sensual as adults as they learn an appreciation and respect for food through its sounds, smells, tastes and textures.

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