More on large families as a crime against the earth

Another post on large families.......I read this and to me it only reinforces my view that 1. (most importantly) I need to work harder on reducing waste and teaching my children to care for the earth. and 2. most people who comment on websites are morons : )

People were meant to have kids. It's a basic biological function. And it's a rather recent thing for people to have smaller families. The enormous amount of pollution we've exposed the earth to is also relatively recent. Much much larger families used to be the norm with far far less waste & pollution. I think the answer is to have everyone-no matter the number of children you have or even if you have no children-to be less wasteful and to learn how to put less pollution out there. We do have to learn to take care of the earth-all of us.

I think many larger families do naturally learn to conserve. They buy in bulk, hand down clothes, shoes, and toys. They have to conserve for financial reasons if nothing else. I think many items are second-hand for large families. People assume that a family of three will always produce less waste than a family of four.....but that is so not true, it all depends on their actions. There's a degree of selfishness in having kids, but there's a degree of selfishness in not having kids also. I've seen people argue that having one child was their way of conserving and they put down people for having more kids. But if you don't have the desire to have more, it isn't a sacrifice to have only one. You did exactly as you pleased, which doesn't make you any better than those who wanted more. I think I'm coming accross as more bitter about this than I actually am. I have to agree with the person who commented (on the above link):
The solution is not to limit people. It's for people to limit their consumption. There is plenty to go around, if only people would exercise some self-control.

I freely admitt that I am still working on this-I am still learning ways to "be kind to mother earth" as my Mom puts it. We do have lots of waste. In fact, having kids is what made me aware of the problem in the first place-when you have kids you suddenly have to care about what you do to the plannet. You want it to be there for your children and grandchildren, etc. to enjoy. It makes me aware of things that I do that I shouldn't. It's made me more aware in general.