8: Population Growth, Should We Panic?

" The problem is not lack of knowledge, but preconceived ideas."

We share our world with 7.3 billion other people. We are beginning to outrun the caring capacity of the earths natural support systems. We are working too fast for the earths forests, fisheries, grasslands, aquafers and soils. We are adding 200,000 people to our planet each day. The exponential growth we are seeing is averaging a billion more people every 13 years. To put this into perspective it took until 1804 to for earth to see it's first population of one billion. While you have been reading this, earth has gained 70 more occupants, and this number will continue to rise. That being said, unlike any time before, we have the technology to help.

We have knowledge, and we are spreading it all across the globe. In 1970, the average Bangladeshi women gave birth to 7 babies during their life time, and had an average life span of 50 years. Now Bangladeshi women have an average of 2.2 children and live to over 70. The same goes for India, the second highest population of all countries and today the average women has 2 children.
Things are getting better.

So I say don't panic. It will be okay. Our job is to preserve our natural resources, and help out our environment, allow it to sustain our huge population. I also believe that we should get on board with the efforts of Bangladesh, India and so many more countries to decrease family sizes. In poor, Bangladeshi school, kids are being told that big families lead to many problems, and small families will have no difficulties. If the average Canadian and American family averages 2 children per life time, it will allow our population to balance with much greater ease. The driving force in a declining population is education, so with a bit more knowledge, we may be able to stop the population crisis. 

7: The Human Experiment

This week in IGS we watched clips of the documentary " The Human Experiment." The few clips that we watched was enough to make me want to see the whole thing. Luckily, it was on Netflix. Over the next few days I finished it, and some of what I learned was astonishing. I had no idea the kinds of toxins and harmful chemicals I was being exposed to on a daily basis. The primary toxin that was featured was biphenyl A. BPA is a common chemical used in plastic. It can be found in everything from water bottles to rubber ducks. We have now learned that BPA can cause brain and behavior problems. We have learned it is a carcinogen and can cause heart problems, and this is only the beginning. I frantically checked my own water bottle to see if it said anything about being BPA free. Nothing. With my new knowledge I knew it was time for an upgrade, and I bought a new toxin free, metal water bottle that was as organic as water bottles get. Feeling slightly better about my water bottle situation, I still knew there was more to the story. Some of the facts I learned were unbelievable. After watching the documentary and doing some further research it is clear to see the linkage between the dramatic increase in autism, cancer risks, brain problems and infertility rates and the dramatic increase in chemical usage in the world. Right now in the United States 80,000 chemicals are being used to create the products we see in stores. Of those 80,000 chemicals, 200 have been tested for our safety.

What we must remember of this is that we have a choice. Us, the consumer can do our research to see what is safe for ourselves and our families. Huge corporate companies cannot thrive if the consumers do not by their products. If we check for ourselves, we can turn to companies who use green chemistry. Companies who invest their time to care for their consumers by using healthy materials and green chemistry are the companies we should be giving our money to anyway. Corporate companies are not going to tell us their products are going to hurt us, so it is up to ourselves to do the research, make smart decisions and save yourself and your families from the human experiment.

6: Where To Invade Next

In this blog, I am writing about the Michael Moore documentary "Where To Invade Next." This was not your everyday on the block social studies documentary. It was interesting. In the film, stereo- typical American Michael Moore travels the globe in search for the most innovative and spectacular ideas around the world. His first stop, Italy. What he soon discovered was that the Italian government gives all of it's workers eight weeks paid vacation. EIGHT weeks. I couldn't believe it. My mind immediately imagined all the Disney lands and worlds that could be visited, big league ball park hot dogs that could be bought, with eight weeks of paid vacation. I think the Italians have it right. How can you expect to enjoy a vacation that you can't afford. I think if we brought this idea back to Canada we would all benefit from it. The whole philosophy thought up by the Italians is based on relaxation and happiness. Couldn't we all use some more of that. By going on more paid vacations, you would come back rejuvenated, relaxed and ready to take on the world (or your cubical). Don't let stress take control of your life, show stress who's boss with a couple weeks in Hawaii. So in conclusion, I believe we most certainly should steal this page out of Italy's book, and reward hard working Canadians with more time off to relax and be with their families. As the Italian couple said in the documentary " You only have one life, enjoy it."