Will babies save the planet?

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Pixabay

  • In recent years, an idea has gained ground: having children would be an ecocidal gesture, exploding our carbon footprint and worsening the state of the planet with the arrival of a new polluting human being.

  • While France will experience an annual birth peak this Wednesday, September 23, 2020,

    20 Minutes

    asked the opposite question: what if having babies was an ecological boon?

  • Two journalists specializing in environmental issues, who publish a book on the subject, respond to this misunderstanding.

This is the big day !

This Wednesday, France will experience its annual peak in births, as the National Institute of Demographic Studies had pointed out a few years ago.

But as maternity hospitals experience an unprecedented influx of children, California will continue to burn, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere to skyrocket, and the Arctic will approach ever closer to the size of Luxembourg.

Consequently, in recent years, some (future) parents have been asking themselves: should we stop having children in order to limit humanity's carbon footprint and, thus, save our dear blue planet?

Amateur of "plot twists" such as the end of 

Sixth Sense

and the elimination of Claude on the Koh-Lanta poles, get ready: what if having children was in fact a gesture for the Earth?

The idea is ardently defended by two environment journalists, Valère Corréard and Mathilde Golla, in their book

Un bébé pour tout changer *.

Change for her baby

“We often wonder if we can be green and parent.

Above all, I think that one cannot be a parent without becoming green ”, entry point Valère Corréard.

The premise is simple: a child disrupts the life of the parent who, by wishing the best for his offspring, today and tomorrow, would set up mechanisms then infuse themselves into the whole family.

Suddenly, the carbon footprint of the toddler would decrease other carbon footprints.

“For example, the food of the whole family changes during a birth: parents pay much more attention to the products they buy, will opt for organic products, better traced products, basically for baby's shopping but then for theirs too ”, supports the journalist of France Inter.

Completely against the prevailing discourse therefore, but this controversy would not be in vain, according to Mathilde Golla, journalist "eco & solution" at

Le Figaro

 : "Since the question of the impact of a child on the environment arises, birth is sometimes accompanied by parental guilt, parents who will pay all the more attention to their impact on the planet.

"

Ricochets and virtuous circle

And that's exactly what the child would bring: an opportunity or never to change old habits that are not always eco-friendly.

Valère Corréard, himself a father, knows all of this well: “Before having a child, you never imagine spending three-hour nights, no longer going out with your friends, devoting yourself entirely to others ... 'we thought irremovable and inevitable is called into question.

In other words, it is a period of "profound changes", and therefore the perfect opportunity for change.

“A child can be the perfect shock to change bad habits.

We see it with smoking, stopping junk food, etc.

So why not with polluting gestures?

"

And then, let's go for the ripple effect, which can lead to far more profound changes than imagined.

“The good thing about these habit changes is that they make us proud of ourselves.

Suddenly, we want to continue ", enthuses Mathilde Golla, evoking" a virtuous circle ".

“It's gratifying to do good things for the planet, it's gratifying to tell yourself that you are evolving and improving.

There are rarely going backwards: on the contrary, we tend to always do more.

People are self-motivated.

"

Why are we fighting?

What if the babies who are being born now become the miracle generation, the one who will change mankind's bad habits for good?

Valère Corréard takes the example of his child, for whom it is quite natural to walk 500 meters more on the beach so as not to throw away packaging, “while my grandfather threw all the rubbish out of the way. car window.

We know that it is much more difficult to change an already existing habit than to teach our children new ones.

With them, we can change the standards very easily.

"

Not to mention being a great source of motivation.

You will have understood, with the thermometer which is exploding all records in this year 2020, efforts will have to be made, and not just a little.

And what could be more inspiring than our own kids?

“I don't believe we can change and alter the course of such an extreme situation as much as ours without having something in the name of to fight.

When you have a child, you are ready to make any effort to ensure that they have the best possible future.

I can hardly see humanity changing if it says to itself that it no longer has a future ”, supports Valère Corréard.

The journalist concludes firmly: “In any case, the very essence of any species is to procreate.

There will always be babies on Earth, so let's not kid ourselves.

Let's try to see it as an ecological opportunity rather than a disaster.

"

Books

"Greta Change the World": The album that shows that you always need someone smaller than yourself

Economy

Reindustrialisation, ecology, solidarity… What does France's 100 billion euro recovery plan provide?

* A baby to change everything,

by Valère Corréard and Mathilde Golla, Marabout editions, September 2, 2020, 384 pages, 15.9 euros.

  • Environment

  • Planet

  • World

  • Child

  • Baby

  • Parents