http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-feldstein/earth-day-now-with-95-per_b_5176580.html
by Stephanie Feldstein Population and Sustainability Director, Center for Biological Diversity
Forty-four years ago, students, activists and political leaders looked at the impact human population was having on the world around them and decided something needed to be done. Earth Day was born, and the modern environmental movement wasn’t far behind.
Since then, there have been a lot more births. Billions more. In the 44 years since the first Earth Day, our population has increased by nearly 95 percent (and we still add 227,000 people to the planet each day).
That’s more people using more land and water, eating more meat, paving more wild places, demanding more energy and producing more climate-changing emissions. More cars and more consumerism; more trash and more pollution.
The one thing we don’t have more of: Earth
We still only have one planet. Though you wouldn’t know it by the way we live our lives, especially here in the U.S. In fact, if everyone in the world lived like Americans, it would take 4.4 Earths to sustain the planet. Unfortunately, among all those Earth Day sales for yard accessories, eco-friendly t-shirts and other mass-produced “green” products, you won’t find a single spare Earth on clearance.
There are a few things this Earth Day has less of than the first celebration 44 years ago. Most notably absent are the conversations about our runaway population growth and overconsumption, what it’s doing to wildlife and the environment, and what we need to do about it if we’re really going to save the planet… and ourselves.
It’s time to go retro on Earth Day. There were 3.7 billion people on the planet for the first Earth Day in 1970, and one of the biggest concerns then was that our growing population was destroying the planet and driving other species to extinction. Now that we have 7.2 billion people on the planet, the one thing we need more of is concern about human population and the extinction crisis.
The Center for Biological Diversity is bringing population back to Earth Day this year by giving away 44,000 Endangered Species Condoms in honor of the 44th anniversary of the celebration. More than 500 volunteers across all 50 states will be bringing the condoms to Earth Day festivals, parties and other community events to get more people talking about the issue that inspired the original Earth Day.
Doing your part is even easier than remembering to bring your reusable tote bag to the grocery store. Start by having the conversation. Share this blog post and the video below. Join us on Facebook. Sign up to be an Endangered Species Condoms volunteer. Check out our Earth Day Event Toolkit for information and downloadable fact sheets. Write a letter to the editor. Next time your friends and family are talking about organic food, climate change or their other favorite environmental issue, add population growth to mix.
We can’t create more Earth by the next Earth Day, but we can raise more awareness about population growth and commit to leaving more room for wildlife.
Exposing the Big Game 
Reblogged this on Ann Novek–With the Sky as the Ceiling and the Heart Outdoors.
Reblogged this on U.S. Constitutional Free Press.
EXACTLY!
I graduated with one of the first environmental degrees in 1974..Paul Erlich was one of my professors. We are still clueless on this front …it’s been 40 years and it so much worse than it was ..I literally don’t hope anymore for a better tomorrow for the planet. Unfortunately, the media and the president don’t seem to care, the money men don’t and private citizens are hard pressed these days to make a difference. Saving the whales was so much easier than saving the wolves in Idaho and the rest of the crazed killing states. This place is out of control and we can just continue to educate the masses and perhaps there will finally be a tipping point somewhere of understanding.
It’s not so much that the world is clueless about human overpopulation–it’s a scientific fact. It’s just not being well-received since it goes against people’s self-interest, just like going vegan does for most people or making major changes to stave off climate change. Like you, I don’t hope for a better tomorrow; it’s not just the money men, the media or president that don’t seem to care, it’s the masses, stuck in their status quo, who reject the notion of making sacrifices for the Earth and all other life on it. That’s great that you studied under Paul Ehrlich–we need more people to pass on the knowledge.
Back in 1979, my botany professor concluded the semester with this thought underscoring his final lecture: next to overpopulation, every other challenge we face is trivial. I agreed with him then and still do. JD
It’s true. No other population of large mammal has grown so quickly, so widespread and so out of control as Homo sapiens.