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s/o EF talk & wanting more kids

HippinskiHippinski
in Eco-Friendly Family

Does your EFness play into your choice to have more or less children?  I have a friend who's ILs told them that having more then 2 children is bad for the environment.  Do you believe this?  Does it weigh into your planning at all?

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Re: s/o EF talk & wanting more kids

  • kelbriankelbrian

    I think that it can be bad for the environment, yes, especially when the children have parents who don't give a damn about this planet and don't do a thing to try and make it better.

    We will not have more than two. At this point, we only want one child, but that is for personal reasons. The EFFness of it doesn't really come into play for us too much.  

    ETA: It doesn't come into play because we don't want more than one at this point.  

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  • brianna611brianna611

    Yes, it definitely does for me.  The world population is like the proverbial elephant in the room that people don't really talk about.  The earth cannot provide for billions of people.  And humans are increasing exponentially.  Frankly, it scares me.  I worry about the quality of life my child(ren) and grandchilden will have.  I worry about the strain on earth's resources.

    Well, somethings gotta give.  People need to think about the number of children they're having and the amount of strain that it puts on the planet.  Sadly, these are issues that humans have never had to deal with before.  It's not fair, but such is the world we have inherited.

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  • tmp-214118062502913tmp-214118062502913
    Not EFFness, but I do think about all the children out there already who need loving families, and I do think about cost factors.
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  • papagenapapagena member
    I do believe it is bad for the environment.  Overpopulation is huge and it's environmental affects are far reaching.  With all of our progress with the medical field, more people are surviving diseases and living much longer than they used to.  Does it play a part into our decision to have kids?  I can't say that it really has, although I do think about it when I'm sad that we're only planning on having 2 - I figure replacing DH & I isn't a huge sin.
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  • pixy_stixpixy_stix member

    Any time you have more than 2 children (to replenish the population) your impact on the environment exponentially increases, no matter how EF you are.  In part because those children will have children, and so on.

    I want two kids and that's it.  I used to want to have three, but I'll be perfectly happy with one at this point.

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  • goodgalpalgoodgalpal member
    I doubt we'll ever have more than two, but that is just personal preference and not for EF reasons. However, part of me thinks if the EF people have more kids, it will create more EF adults who will then help to make things better for our world. But then I go back to thinking about how negative it is for the planet to keep having a huge population growth. I really just don't know.
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  • andrealynn0707andrealynn0707 member
    We are not going to have more than two, no matter what, for this reason. We are likely one and done, though.
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  • Joes_loveJoes_love member

    nope, i'm gonna have a dozen, and then i'm going to knit ALL their clothing.  and i'll teach them to knit!  so we can continue being as un-EF as possible.

    but in all honesty, i've never really thought about it that way. 

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  • MissyOlivePantsMissyOlivePants
    When I was younger (in my 20's), I used to want a large family (5-7). Now that I'm older, I'm thinking 3 at max...and being more eco-minded, I'm thinking I'd be happy with 2.  And because of my age and DD's energy, I would be completely happy with just her!! :)
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  • GladToBeMrs.SRSGladToBeMrs.SRS member
    imageJoes_love:

    nope, i'm gonna have a dozen, and then i'm going to knit ALL their clothing.  and i'll teach them to knit!  so we can continue being as un-EF as possible.

    but in all honesty, i've never really thought about it that way. 

    Geeze, joes.  At least teach them to crochet and not knit.  Because you *know* that crocheting is so much more EF.  It'll make up for your additional spawnage. 

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  • loregoparloregopar
    We want 2, and for us it is about EF reasons. We figured if we can afford to have a 3rd one and decide to do so, we'll adopt a child in need instead.
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  • goinggreengirlgoinggreengirl

    We only want two anyway. It's not really for EF reasons though I plan on raising my children to be as EF as possible. We are using mostly second hand items (clothes, swing, toys, etc.), we are cloth diapering and will use the same diapers for the second child most likely.

    We've talked about a third but I think two is good since that's how many hands I have to hold onto them!

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  • triumphantreturnofplanningbugtriumphantreturnofplanningbug

    I do believe that humans are the major cause of most to all the massive environmental problems we have today, and the more there are, the more potential problems we create.  My sister and I grew up in the same fairly crunchy household. I now do everything I can, and a lot that I can't financially afford but choose, to be as environmentally responsible. My sister drives an SUV so that there's room for her friend's children's carseats (which she uses maybe once a month) for an average of an hour a day, doesn't recycle because it's too much work, and has said that since she just knows she's going to die before she's forty, she just doesn't care about the planet. The contrasts between us have me convinced that you can raise your children in a very green way, but that has no major effect on how they'll live as adults.

    I'd rather adopt than bring more little beings into the world, but DH really, really wants to at least try for a kid that's biologically ours. Our compromise there is to try for a bio kid, but not do any fertility treatments (way too many health risks given everything I already have) and also adopt any children we want besides the first, and move to pursuing adoption after a year and a half of TTC.  And they may, in spite of genetics, nurture, and everything else, still grow up to be ungrateful spiteful twits who don't care about much more than themselves. But that's the risk of parenting, I think, and we'd rather do what we can than not try at all. Just call me Pollyanna :)

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