Condoms and Polar Bears

Environmental activists have been known to take residence in the branches of trees for days or even months to ensure these trees do not get cut down. Other environmentalists have chartered their own large boats in attempts to non-violently stop whalers in Japan. Still, some environmental groups have decided that one way to help Mother Earth is by distributing hundreds of thousands of condoms in order to call attention to the human tendency to overpopulate and the impact this has on species that are already on the endangered list.

This new condom campaign is a clever approach to a pressing environmental issue. The condoms have been marketed with colorful wrappers that display pictures of various endangered species like jaguars and polar bears. Each image has an appropriate slogan attached to it like, “Cover your tweedle, save the burying beetle,” or “Wrap with care, save the polar bear.” Over 3,000 people have volunteered their time to help distribute these condoms in various public places including schools, concerts, bars and grocery stores. The executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, Kieran Suckling, states, “It’s a way to make people laugh, shock people a little bit and get them talking.”

He reminds us that there are a number of different ways that the growth of the human population daily affects these endangered species, including new housing developments, highways, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and water resources that are going by the wayside. Suckling goes on to inform us that one of the main goals of this new campaign is to get a global conversation going about these overpopulation issues that have become taboo topics.

Suckling states, “Overpopulation is the driving force behind virtually all environmental problems — air pollution, water pollution, the extinction crisis, global warming, yet it is rarely ever addressed by conservation groups. They are really afraid of touching the issue and appearing antihuman.” The topic of overpopulation has been known to ruffle some feathers. One example is a study recently done by researchers from Oregon State University that determined the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that could be attributed to bearing a child. Paul Murtaugh, a professor of statistics from Oregon State University, states, “In discussions about climate change, we tend to focus on the carbon emissions of an individual over his or her lifetime. Those are important issues, and it’s essential that they should be considered. But an added challenge facing us is continuing population growth and increasing global consumption of resources.” Many people immediately responded to this research project. One reader wrote, “So to save the world, we need to destroy our species. Great theory.”

This new condom initiative is, naturally, not without its own critics. One person wrote, “This is sick. Not that condoms are bad. But the reasoning behind this is disturbing and seems driven by sociopaths.” On the flip side, in a poll taken in a website referencing this new condom campaign, the question is asked, “Should environmental activists distribute free endangered-species condoms in Orange County?” Approximately 50 people responded and 30 of these responded with a “yes.”

The Center for Biological Diversity revealed that the first 100,000 condoms ran out fairly quickly. Currently an order for half a million condoms to continue this mission has been made. Despite the campaign’s apparent success, Mr. Suckling assets that he never intends to make a profit on this campaign by selling the condoms. He states, “The value of getting these out there means more to us.”