We’re counting down the Top 10 Reasons to Choose a Small Family. On World Population Day we’ll announce the number one reason. Reason #9: A Sustainable Population Living a Modest European Lifestyle is 2 Billion. Of course current world population is 7.2 billion and rising by about 200,000 every day.

We know the scale of human activity on Earth passed into overshoot several decades ago. The more we ignore the population multiplier in the sustainability equation, the more drastic must be our contraction of economic activity (consumption). Yet we have the tools to prevent world population from ever reaching even 9 billion. We could humanely and voluntarily get world population back to a sustainable level within a century, if we were genuinely committed to it.  What we lack is the will to acknowledge the problem and to strongly recommend to all our children that they limit the size of their family.

The current population level and state of overshoot are two very good reasons to choose to have no children, or perhaps just one. Even stopping at two will help. Adoption is a good option for those who desire more.

Please share this thought with your friends and children. Subscribe to our updates to get the rest of the Top 10 Reasons to Choose a Small Family!

Dave Gardner
Director of the documentary
GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth