Going “Green” With Condoms

I would not exactly call myself “green.” I do my best to turn the water off when I’m not using it and to throw my soda cans into the recycling bins (should they happen to be around). I have about 10 canvas grocery bags all bought with the great intention of using them religiously, but over 50% of the time I go to the grocery store, I realize at the checkout stand that I have left them in the trunk of the car. So, I may not be full-on “green,” per se, but more of a wanna-be greenish hue. Even our government has taken obvious strong measures to go “green” with laws on emissions, toxic substances and air pollution. In fact, they could be going green in some areas they had not realized until now. Leading experts have speculated that climate changes could be slowed down by a decrease in the growth of population. What could cause this decline in the population gowth, you may wonder? Handing out condoms to residents in developing global regions.

According to a published article in Lancet, a medical journal hailing from Great Britain, there are over 200 million women all over the globe that would like to have contraceptives like condoms made available to them. Because they do not always have access to condoms, there are over 75 million unintended pregnancies each year. Researchers in this study predict that the population growth could easily be slowed down if these women were given proper access to various forms of contraceptives, including birth control pills and condoms. In turn, the decline in the population growth could help by lessening environmental pressures. The article states, “There is now an emerging debate and interest about the links between population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and climate change.”

It is no surprise that in developed countries that have easy access to contraceptives like condoms, the size of families has tended to grow smaller with each passing generation. For example, my maternal grandparents had 15 children. My parents only had two. Only in recent years have health programs funded by the United States actually included educating developing countries on the use of condoms and providing easy access to them, even with the onslaught of the AIDS/HIV epidemic. Experts predict that by the year 2050, the global population will be close to 9 billion. These same experts also predict that over 90% of that population growth will come from the poorer, developing countries.

The article goes on to refer to a report that states it is much more inexpensive for families to plan their children than for technologies to emerge that would help in the fight against climate shifts. In fact, the report states that for every seven dollars a family uses toward family planning, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by over one ton. Researchers in this study point out that the natural growth of the population would not cause a huge increase in climate shifts; however, developing countries and their tendency to overpopulate will likely cause a huge demand for forms of shelter and food. This, in turn, could put a severe strain on the environment.