On the topic of not having kids for the environment, I think its super fine to make as a personal choice, but people should definitely not be shamed for having children. However, it has been shown that women's rights have greatly reduced the birth rate, so uplifting women in places such as southern Asia or sub-Saharan Africa could have a bigger effect than an individual deciding to not have children. By uplifting women, I mean creating job opportunities on par with men, introducing sex education, and providing access to birth control would be a better answer to the population concern rather than eco-fascism.
Yeah not having children for the sake of environmentalism crosses the line into putting *too* much responsibility on individuals to save the planet in proportion to their contribution to CC compared to corporations. Why should one person give up something important to them while fossil fuel companies experience no accountability whatsoever? Absolutely not fair. Also, the U.S. is already doing a good job in keeping many Americans from having children by making it as difficult as possible to build enough wealth to do so. The birth rate is already declining. I say all this as someone who is childfree by choice just because it's not something I personally want, but I think people who want it should have it.
Couldn't agree more. I was reading the Selfish Ape and this scientist called having many children "environmental terrorism" and well, let's just say I will not recommend that book to anyone... Genuinely though this argument spurs the idea of overpopulation when the actual issue is unequal distribution of resources etc. Not a fan of David Attenborough using overpopulation as an argument too either.
I currently have a two and a half month old. Having children is something I knew I always wanted and if I’m being honest I do often worry about what kind of future she will have… but I plan on raising her in a low waste, plant based home and hoping that she can be a part of a positive change
Thank you all!! Seeing some of the comments on here made me feel an insane amount of guilt for having a child and you all make me feel so much better! ☺️
Don’t feel bad, kids are a beautiful thing and theirs no shame in bringing wonderful humans into this world. I have one and my hopes are to foster ho adopt in the near future❤️
On the topic of kids: I am happily childfree for many reasons. I am of the opinion that folks need to start THINKING before having kids. Some just have because "it is what one does". HELL NO! Remember you are bringing a helpless human being into a very hard world with finite resources. It takes work and a lot of devotion to raise them into decent and responsible folks. So, if it is not a "hell yes", it should be a no. I am aware that this is a bit of a first world problem, but it is what I have noticed around me. We should work on education and emancipation and on the access to birth control so that people start realizing that kids are a choice and one not to be taken lightly!
yes! People should feel the importance of THINKING if being a parent is the path for them specifically. For them with their partner. Everything you just said is what my coworker and I have been ranting about all week.
This is the comment I was going to write but you did it better 😅 Our society and culture seems to think becoming a mother is inevitable for every woman (which is problematic in so many ways) I personally have never had any desire to have children and don't feel like I should have to explain my reasoning 🤷🏻♀️ If people want kids, more power to them but it shouldn't be the expected outcome.
Definitely! I see many middle-class/well-off people having kids without really thinking about it, just because. I was always on the fence about having them; it was something I always thought I'd do when older, and I wanted kids. But throughout my life I started to think about the kind of life I could give them. I'm from a third world country, and I made up my mind long ago: unless I could move to a better country, with access to a healthy, safe and more sustainable life, I would not have kids. I have communicated that to my family as well, and they were understanding of my reasons. So far, I'm not closer to moving abroad, and not in a rush either - if I miss the "biological timing", then that's it, I don't mind. In my family, 2/3 of my generation are notplanning on having kids for various reasons - recognizing they wouldn't be fit to be parents, not wanting to give them a life in the current state of the world/country, finances, etc. And I honestly think that's amazing.
For the not having kids point, it's worth mentioning that one of the factors that leads to a lower birth rate is female education, so like you said, rather than saying people shouldn't have kids because it's selfish maybe if people thought of it in this way and maybe support charities/policies that encourage female education opportunities it would have that knock on effect of slowing the population growth (hard to imagine on a global scale though) 😊
Re: that hot take about eating animal-containing leftovers -- I am vegan more for ethical reasons than environmental but I would STILL eat animal-containing stuff my parents are about to throw away! I'm with ya Shelby, before that mac'n'cheese goes in the trash, you bet your butt I'm gonna smash them leftovers -- no food left behind XD
The issue I have with the "no kids" line of argument, and which ties into the point you made about eco-fascism, is that it tends to be used as a stick by people in developed countries to beat people in less developed countries, and totally ignores both (a) the fact that developed countries are the ones that have created this mess, and (b) the legacy of colonialism and exploitation that has created the conditions in less developed countries
Definitely a point we need to consider in this discussion - poorer strati of the world's population really have other problems to think about. And a lack of access to resources (information, sex ed, birth control, legal abortions) often is the thing that leads to an exess of children in poorer countries. I'm from Brazil, and even though I'm fortunate enough to have been born into a more fortunate, middle-class family, even being surrounded by middle to upper class people, I've seen many having children due to lack of knowledge/carefulness. The thing to do is work against inequality and towards providing access to resources for those in need.
Not to mention that wealthy individuals (that tend to be from wealthier nations) have a larger environmental footprint than no matter how “green” their lifestyle. Instead of worrying about impoverished having children worry about the rich 💁🏻
Kinda agree. But what happened in the past is not even half as important as what can be done to solve the problem now. Its too late to change the past. The more the populations grow, the harder it becomes to actually help and feed everyone and possibly help people out of starvation and poverty. Which we should. Countries with a growing, but already high population need to make less kids, regardless if rich or poor. The goal should be good (not rich) living standards all across the world, where people at least have basic needs met and possibility for optimal health. And of course also having basic human rights. People in poor countries may also lack access to birth control and proper sex ed, and women often dont have the right to "say no", which means people may also get kids they dont even want there. Its also very irresponsible and even cruel to (intentionally) have kids when you cant even afford to feed them.
Saying that people who have kids don’t care about the environment gives big eco fascist vibes. The individuals aren’t the ones committing the majority of the pollution. Turn that anger towards corporations!
ZERO WASTE TOOTHPASTE SUCKS - really I hate it xx this was a fun video xx ps. I want to try this one you mentioned though, but we don't have it in the UK!
Boots has a toothpaste in a aluminium tube AND it tastes okay AND it has flouride ✌️ It's called Waken. It's not 100% Zero Waste but its better than plastic
I too hated the tablets but I currently use the happier beauty toothpaste which checks all the boxes: packaged in aluminium, contains a good amount of fluoride and most importantly has a very pleasant taste and texture.
We don’t even NEED toothpaste. As long as you’re thorough w your toothbrush you do NOT need toothpaste. Save your money and the need for packaging and skip it altogether.
I brought up the guilt of having a kid up with my therapist and she suggested I watch the beginning of the movie Idiocracy. She basically said that so many people are having kids that are contributing to waste (and stupidity, like in the movie, but that's not relevant here), but we need more people in the world who will make it better. It's true, if I raise a kid that practices good environmental stewardship, then he can spread that knowledge or come up with additional solutions.
Your kid could end up not caring. I’m sure raising them well will help but there’s still a big chance they won’t be how you want. Better to teach the people who are already born. But I’m not telling you not to have kids, just that this logic isn’t as sound as you think
But the opposite of that is that you have no control over who your kid becomes. I couldn’t be further opposite from all the values & beliefs my parents taught me 🤷♀️ Honestly it comes down to personal choice. That is way too big of a life decision to base it soley off of environmental concerns IMO
This is such a hard question. My bf and I are in uni right now and we want to get married after we have our degrees. Then to wait a couple of years until trying for a baby. But with covid and everything burning and germany (where I live) beeing flooded I'm not sure if I even want to put children in this world. My bf said that we could raise the people who make it better but I think that's not fair. They shouldn't have a job before they are born and when they are born and maybe 20 years old it will be 2050. How are THEY supposed to change a destroyed world. It's really stressing me out 😣
I'm all for having kids as long as it's a choice you purposely made. My husband and I planned both of our babies and may have one more down the road. But we plan and raise them to be ware of the world around them. We eat meat here.. so I teach my kids where it comes from. You have chicken on your plate.... But where did it come from...? I want my kids to have a connection to where their food comes from so they have an appreciation for it. I'm teaching them to use up as much of the animal as possible and to not waste it. So far .. my kiddos are very drawn to how we live with gardening and preserving food.
I like how most of your opinions / lessons are given from a purely educational standpoint and come off as without bias. That is so helpful to get your point across. We need more of that. It makes you want to listen to someone more when you don't feel like they're shaming your view.
The no kids thing is a hard one. I had planned on adoption until I read The Child Catchers (highly recommend!!!). Since WW2, there's been so much demand for adoptable kids that the adoption industry has become so corrupt, from "manufactured orphans" to straight up kidnapping and beyond. I might foster a teenager one day though.
from what I saw from around - people usually want babies or toddlers. But no one really wants teenagers. Personally my point of adopting is not to have a kid, but more to help a young person feel accepted, help them heal their inner child and later on give them the kick into life they need - give them background they know they can go back to
the adoption system needs a lot of fixing, it’s hard for some people to adopt within their own country so they adopt abroad. and the system is just rotted with greed and parents and kids end up getting exploited. It’s really hard to think about doing anything “moral” these days when the only way to access it is via capitalist pigs.
I wish there was a way they could make adoption cheaper and easier without sacrificing the safety of the child. I might have to read that book, sounds interesting but terrifying.
I love the fact that some cosmetics manufacturers, for example, are encouraging people to return the aluminum containers for lip balms, moisturizers and solid perfumes
I am so glad you mentioned the fact that there are situations where a reusable rag is NOT the move. I have two cats and I hate that I feel like paper towels are a necessity.. but they are. Unless I stock up rags just for cleaning pet messes, or the occasional bug, and then hand washing it because it wouldn’t be a big enough load to use a machine.. it’s not realistic. Though I do save my to go napkins for sure!
I use reusable rags for almost everything, but I still use paper towels to clean toilet seats (and other areas around the toilet.) Sorry but I don't feel comfortable using a reusable anywhere near the toilet lol!
My dog had an unfortunate attack of diarrhea while we were at work one day. I was pretty glad to have a stash of paper napkins on hand. Some messes just need to be disposed of.
My mother-in-law is faecally incontinent. Yes there are washable incontinence pants, but neither hubby and I can deal, so we use adult nappies that get thrown away. Cleaning her up is hard enough using disposable gloves etc
my initial decision not to have children was based on environmental reasons, but ultimately i truly asked myself a question i dont think all that many people ask themselves...but when it comes to having kids, i think it either has to be a hell yes or a hell no- for the child's sake. being fully wanted is the least they deserve.
About the having kids thing, I personally have a genetic disability. Because of this I do not want to have kids because I wouldn’t want to pass that genetic mutation on and cause someone else to suffer because I was selfish. However telling all disabled people that they shouldn’t have kids would be eugenics and I certainly don’t approve of that. I think it’s kind of similar with environmentalism turning to eco fascism. Saying you personally won’t have kids is an individual choice but shaming others (esp poor poc) is not the side you want to align yourself with
Another super hot take: blaming the top 100 companies for being the largest emitters is absolutely passing the buck and causing inaction among individuals. The majority of these companies are oil, gas, coal, plastic manufacturers, and chemical manufactures. They have a demand to meet caused by consumers no matter how far down the line. Sure efficiencies can be put in place, but I’m sure from a monetary perspective those companies are already highly motivated to be efficient. Consumption is the market driver for primary source emissions from the top 100 companies.
I’ve heard an environmental scientist put it as “it’s just another way to say that xx% of pollution is caused by consumers.” I mean, why are these companies producing pollution for? What for fun? They are doing it to meet a demand (whether they created it can be a discussion tho)
Re the lab grown meat - I’m sceptical that the resources required to grow meat in the lab is environmentally friendly. Having worked in labs for a couple years/ been involved in cell culture, the materials required include animal products and ALOT of plastic ware… But it absolutely should be invested in because I think it could be environmentally friendly(er?)
But that’s how it usually starts right? The small lab scale experiments use up a lot of plastic and then when you can find industrial use then you can move to gigantic industrial labs which takes up other sorts of recourses
As a vegan if I were to run into a meat leftovers situation, if I knew my relatives were going to throw out any future leftovers I would take the food home to and I would find a carnist to gift the meal to. That way it is not wasted and I have displaced a meal that would have otherwise been meat, so only one meat meal was eaten instead of two.
My local council has this really cool section on their website where you can search the item you want to recycle and it'll tell you if it can go in curbside or a specific bin. Not sure it other places have this but I thought it was cool for the things I have to buy that I want to be able to recycle if I can't reuse
Also loved this video topic and I would like to see more like this! I love that your channel is now getting into the nuances and crevices of the ZW movement beyond the swaps.
@@Shelbizleee Ah! I will look up your old ones! (To be clear, I knew you did topics besides swaps, but I guess what I meant is there are more…gray areas? regarding zero waste that you’ve been pointing out in recent videos. Either way, it’s awesome keep it up :))
I don't understand why sustainably packaged toothpaste can't just be normal toothpaste in some kind of better recyclable packaging like a glass jar. Is there something I'm missing???
I'm of the same opinion as you when it comes to kids. I personally don't plan on having any biological children and would like to adopt but I would never judge anyone who chooses to have children and would never tell someone not to have kids. I personally feel like there are already too many humans on the earth but I'm not going to expect everyone else to do what I do.
@@mamaprojects4120 Google it. It's a complex issue and there are lots of examples out there. Especially of adoptive or foster parents not properly advised of the mental health problems of a child and then being unable to cope with said child and no support being given by social services. There are many other issues, such as adopting babies from other countries and white people adopting non-white children, but like I say, Google.
Love you so much, Shelby! You're amazing and I'm so glad youre talking about this in a fair manner! My wife and I both have to keep eating some amount of meat, because were both severely anemic, and bad things happen when we try to cut out meat completely (we did try!). What we do instead is, we buy meat only at the farmers market, where the meat is grown on the islands we live on, and we HUGELY diversify what types of meat we eat. Rather than just focusing on beef, which ive noticed a lot of vegans/veges do, we eat pretty much everything but pork.
I love that you talked about population and having children since it is such a touchy topic. I've always been a believer that the children should not outnumber the adults in the household, so that each child can get the individual attention they deserve. This also aligns with my belief that you can replace yourself, and possibly your partner, on the planet, but there is no need to have a surplus of children. Personally I think large-family line of thinking is pretty selfish, especially when the older children are expected to help and take care of the younger children. Keep families small, adopt, foster, be a surrogate for someone who can't have children, get involved with youth programs in your community, there's more than one way to be a "parent" and enrich the lives of the future generations.
My parents had 9 kids because they are quite religious and believed that they should have as many kids as God decided and I can tell you it was not a good choice for us (the kids). Horrible relationships and family dynamics within our family. 😔 & it puts strain on kids when they are teenagers and have to do parent jobs they didn't choose to do. I don't think big families are a good thing. 😵 I have many more negative memories from childhood than positive memories.
@@BrightStar717 Thanks for sharing your experience, I'm sorry your negative childhood memories outweighed the positive, but I hope the opposite it true for your adulthood. ❤
What I thought was super interesting when I was looking into worm composting, was that the worms used decide to not over reproduce because they know it'll be a competition for food. I thought it's insane how worms can self regulate themselves but us people have a hard time discussing this. I think one of the reasons it comes to is not enough resources for people: condoms, birth control, Plan B, etc. Especially the education!!! In my county the schools who decided to stop having sex ed saw in increase of student pregnancies.
It's not really a conscious decision though, it's in reaction to the amount of available food. Humans do this as well, if you don't have enough food you are likely to stop menstruating, and not have as many children, or fewer of your children will survive. Pond snails in an aquarium are the same. If your aquarium is being overrun with them it's because you're providing them with too much food.
@Claire Youmans I didn't mean to imply that I would eat lab grown meat. I would not. My 100% support of it is in hopes that it will revolutionize the animal-meat industries, both industrial and small scale, hopefully, saving billions and billions of animals from the horrors of animal agriculture. Also, I live in NC, second largest "hog farm" state. So, I see the enormous impact of air pollution, water and land degradation, fish kills from algae blooms, and the harms that come to the mostly minority communities that lack financial resources to fight "big hog money" from destroying their communities first hand. My hope is that lab grown meat will be the future-- not only for the animals, but for the people effected by animal agriculture in their own back yards, as well as for the health of the planet we all call home. So, thanks for your reply, sounds like we're on the same page.
Thank you for saying something about being an environmentalist and eating meat. I was born with nutritional deficiencies where I HAVE to eat meat, I really hope lab grown meat becomes more accessible and affordable in the near future.
Not sure when lab grown meat comes out. But I dont do well on a plant based diet either (not deficient with my normal diet with meat). I think we need a video that talks about the difference between animal species for meat and how much they pollute. Im all for discussing the animal welfare aspect too, which I think is really important when its a sentient feeling being and this is actually their whole life. Some brands have considerably better animal welfare than the minimum standard, which is quite terrible
Suggestion for next video: I’d love to see something about picking efficient appliances for the home (read: washer and dryer, fridge, dishwasher, maybe what type of water heater is best, etc). Could possibly be a mini series with opportunity for sponsors like Home Depot to show up again. As someone who’s preparing for homeownership, I’m really interested in how to make my home more efficient to not only save money on bills but also to be less impactful on the planet. I know some will say homeownership in general is bad, but renting is neither a strong option in my area nor a means of generating wealth.
I'm 15 seconds into this video and I have to say your HAIR looks incredible!! Wow so gorg. Ok gonna watch the video now, can't wait to hear the tea haha.
Moderation in all things, People! I probably eat meat or fish once or twice a week. But only a small portion and it is not my major meal focus! I had two children, one biological and one adopted. I would have loved a larger family but was mindful of the responsibility of raising moral, kind and caring individuals.
So my City is completely getting rid of our recycling program and idk what to do now. There are some things I have to buy packaged and have no choice and I really don't want to throw these things away in the landfill.. maybe I'll just move lol
Anyone who wants more sustainable toothpaste and doesn't live in the US, try Ben&Anna. Their toothpastes come in little glass jars, with an aluminium lid and a bamboo thing you use to spread the toothpaste. It's a great toothpaste in terms of taste and texture and they have options with flouride! I love it!
This is definitely one of my favourite videos!! I personally don’t have much hope for future generations so I won’t be having any children in an effort to lessen future suffering, but will happily adopt if the times comes I feel I need to be a mother. I don’t believe anyone should be shamed for such a personal choice but we certainly have no shortage of children in need of a safe and loving family already on the planet.
I think you brought up a great point that it is unbridled consumption, not the birth of a baby, that causes damage to the environmental future. Human life is precious and on a completely different scale than inanimate goods. To mandate that any person couldn't be born or couldn't give birth is such a violation to human rights.
One trend that has really been frustrating lately is people using big business as an excuse to not do their part. It’s this lazy attitude of “well, most of the world’s waste and carbon emissions come from big companies, so don’t shame me for not recycling/using my AC excessively/etc!” Obviously it’s true that big companies are the biggest offenders but that is NOT an excuse to give up and not put in any effort. On an individual level it’s still our duty to do whatever we can. I think that’s where the appeal of zero-waste comes from; it puts power back into individual people’s hands and reminds them that they CAN help. Shrugging and saying “well, it’s all big industry’s fault; you can’t blame consumers” and then doing nothing is being a part of the problem. We are ALL capable of doing something even if it’s as small as using a reusable shopping bag. It still helps.
If we kill a pest, we usually use a bug zapper flyswatter that runs on rechargeable batteries and no napkin is wasted. If smashing is a necessary, we'll use a shoe and then a wet washcloth to clean up the mess that can then be rinsed and washed.
Thanks for the video! There are so many sides to these points its hard to weigh them out in a 15 min video… that being said I saw water in an aluminum can the other day… didn’t get to read if it was from recycled or new materials but i thought it was interesting.
One thing that really changed my perspective on whether or not having kids is ethical was a video I saw where women who are indigenous to so-called Canada were talking about how they didn’t relate to not wanting to have kids “because the world is ending”, because to them, the world already *has* ended. They’re rebuilding their lives and communities from the ground up, and having bio kids after decades of forced-sterilization is an act of protest.
Have you tried Smyle toothtabs? They offer an option to get a small glass bottle to store them in, come in a recyclable paper bag and they offer both fluoride and fluoride free options!
that cockroach one :'D - I personally avoid killing them and am quite concerned about how normalised it is to kill bugs and insects! the mainstream appearance of environmentalism rightfully protects larger animals, but it's not just these that we need to protect, it's actually a lot of living bacteria, insects and microscopic creatures that we're losing to a changing climate. I also have obscene allergic reactions when i get bitten, so I put a repellent on my own body but do not like to go around spraying it all over my room or anything.
I don't kill spiders or flies unless they're really bothering me but cockroaches and ants disgust me and make me itch! I don't know if it's just a problem in my country but in summer ants come in millions. Just recently my mum found a mountain of ants near the oven
@@as19J01 Ants aren't much of a problem for me, but I do feel you on the roach thing! Other insects I try to trap and get them out of the house safely, but cockroaches make me have goosebumps. I've had to deal with them not that often, but often enough to not feel sorry for them. But I don't get the napkin thing... that's going too close to them with your hands! I throw shoes, and clean up what's left after I know they won't be moving anymore...
It really depends on the environment you live in. If you're in a suburban house, you should be able to do a deep clean and evict roaches. But for people living in an apartment complex in a city, they don't really have a choice. If the apartment next to you or above you is an atrocious trash heap, releasing roaches just means they come back in your home again and again.
I have no aversion to killing roaches, but I find capturing them in a small jar is much easier than trying to squash them with a napkin. I also don't want to have to breathe roach spray.
Im just here to say that im from Uruguay and in my country we don't even get so many eco friendly choices regarding product or even reusable water bottles, an Hydroflask cost 100usd here and not everyone has the chance to do grab it, also we don't even get good reusable bags or reciclen toilet paper, unfortunately we have to really do it slowly since we are a bit behind it, love the tips and also the info!
I agree with "zero-waste is not the answer" BUT I also feel like I can't ask businesses and governments to change, if I'm not willing to change. And I also think spending my money on zero-waste things and systems shows companies and governments that people are willing to use different packaging/systems/etc. I'm new to the realm of lowering my waste, but that's this amateur's hot take.
Yes! I often use this as argument! If I want more peace in the world, I have to start being less agressive and considering others. If I want a better world, I have to start to be better! The same with being sustentaible. If I want to big companys use less plastic, I have to start to use less plastic! People often don't realize how your polithical thinking is formed after you try to change the way you live. Of course, in the process, we still have to demand from these autorities!
I agree. Hank Green from vlogbrothers recently addressed this issue and framed it as "it will be hard to convince politicians there is a climate change emergency if we don't start behaving like there is an emergency" (paraphrasing), which is where I think the zero waste movement comes in.
Yes, agreed. I feel like every big company is trying to tout its sustainability in a way that no one did ten years ago - partly because they know there's a market for it, but also because companies are run by people who also live on the planet (Tesla/SpaceX potentially excepted...kidding) and the more that caring about the environment is normalized, the more that the people who make decisions will assume that this is something they should care about. Also like, products DO stop being produced if no one buys them.
Yay, thanx for not killing bugs and mentioning it. Just because they are not cute and are easily killable doesn't mean you should kill them. They also have value in this life.
While I don't think we have the authority to tell people NOT to procreate, it's one of the many reasons we chose adoption. Personally, I'd feel selfish and irresponsible (AGAIN SPEAKING ABOUT MYSELF SPECIFICALLY) bringing more people into the world when there are already so many children without families.
Do you know how we can invest in lab grown meat? Asking because I also watched a video by you about investing in sustainable companies and I think lab grown meat is going to be a game changer.
I ended up loving Bite Toothpaste Bits and they have a Fluoride alternative. I know it's not for everyone (I know the texture is odd for some...I make sure it's crushed to a powder before brushing with). My dentist actually likes it, too.
i switched to native on your reccomendation and as odd as it sounds, stopping using antiperspirant has made me sweat a lot less, and i live in a hot, humid area. it took about two weeks for my sweat production to change and it’s been way, way better since
We just moved and I’m trying to implement new ways of doing things here. Just bought native deodorant. I was holding off bc it’s more than I usually spend and I’m very acidic so it’s hard to cut the smell ☹️ but I gave in and sure enough no smells! A lot of “regular” name brands aren’t even able to do that for me.
Have you heard of BOCA refillable toothpaste? It’s like normal toothpaste, has fluoride in it, tastes nice. And you refill the tubes using compostable refills.
Because of a medical condition and my small town rural environment, I am unable to be plant-based. I don’t eat red meat; however, I am lucky enough to have locally raised and butchered poultry. In order to go zero-waste and plant-based, I would have to drive over 130 miles round trip. So, the three or four poultry meals I have each week, paired with minimally packaged foods is the best way for me to eat sustainably and healthily. Not all solutions work for all people. Shelbi, I appreciate that you promote that idea, which is motivating and speaks to all your viewers, not just those who are fortunate to have the same resources as you 😊
I agree with you 100% on the topic of kids. For health reasons and my personal beliefs, I consider it unethical to have kids. But, I'm not going to bag on a woman who wants to have kids...as long as they raise them right and aren't entitled about it. We need parents to raise the next generation of informed, responsible adults to carry on when we're all gone.
I agree with pretty much everything being said about having kids in this day and age. Some people REAAAALLY want kids. It's like, their whole life, their identity, their dream. I would never tell them to not have kids. But being childfree definitely should be encouraged. We should at least urge our kids, communities to think about it and consider it. Too many people have kids just because they think they're supposed to or because they have pressure from their family or community. We need some people to have kids (if we want to sustain the human race lol which I know some people aren’t keen on) and we also need some people to not have kids. Population control. There's a little too much pressure and focus on having a big family, especially in certain religions and cultures. We should not try to grow and grow and grow. We have reached the point where there are more than enough people in the planet, we don’t need to keep growing! We definitely need to have better resource distribution and less waste to care for countries full of struggling people. Better access to birth control, too. Anyway, long story short, I agree that having kids right now is not the best idea for them or our environment, but people who really really want children should still have them. People who don't feel strongly shouldn't have them just for the sake of another checkmark on the generic to-do list of life.
I have this wonderful thing called a CRITTER CATCHER- I can grab spiders and stink bugs and then safely remove them from my home without a tissue or a flush of the toilet.
Alternative take on meat consumption: I am not a big red meat person at all, but on the rare occasion I do have some, I always purchase from one of the small local farms in my area. I am friends with the owners and have seen first hand that the treatment is very humane. Every year they have the same number of calves born (no spike due to demand) bc that is all they have the resources for to sustainably raise them. By purchasing from them i keep the money out of the pockets of corporate farms and it has the same effect as if i didn’t eat meat at all bc I am not increasing their demand
when it comes to “population control” discussions - providing healthcare and education to women around the world can give women the power to control their family life and is predicted to lower the population increase by 2 billion. Project drawdown can tell you more
I like more 'controversial' topics around sustainable living, there isn't enough civil conversation. People tend to feel so strongly about something and stick to their echo chambers and then easily fall into arms of eco fascism or complete opposite side of the spectrum. I believe people should be able to have children without judgement, ultimately we are animals and it is wired in our biology. But! We must rethink big families, be more considerate and mindful with family planning and we have to normalise not having children. There is no wrong reason NOT to have children but there are plenty of bad reasons to have them (societal/cultural pressure, 'saving' your relationship, lack of access to contraception and the list goes on). I come from extremely catholic country and I have observed how strongly religion has influenced our culture clearly defining the role of a woman (you're obliged to have children, contraception bad, abortions banned). This is true for vast majority of cultures where religion dictates how people should live (and so called 'first world' countries are not free of this indoctrination). Education and empowerment of women is the key. I dislike when rich people preach 'sustanability' and proceed to have however many children they want. It also infuriates me when I see family channels on RUclips with 3+ children constantly talking about expanding the numbers because 'let's make baby girl because we only have boys'. I don't know if anyone else has noticed that but it's definitely a trend which sends very negative message as it promotes mindless procreation. Not to mention they use their children as cheap labour yet barely anyone questions it 🙄 Another one I dislike when people say zero waste/minimalism/ sustainable living makes no sense because it's those big companies that pollute environment. Absolutely they do and absolutely I agree we need systematic approach and system change, an individual should never carry the whole burden of saving the planet. But! We as consumers hold some power, companies provide products because we demand it. By refusing unnecessary products and changing our habits we can send a message that we no longer want to participate in over consumption, we no longer demand beef burgers five times a week or we no longer need as much petrol etc. I know it's not all that straight forward, people are in different situations and not every lifestyle change is equally attainable for everyone and reshaping current processes will definitely be a tricky job for number of reasons. However, we cannot just ignore individual responsibility and I really dislike when people don't even want to try to think what they could change and refuse to get basic education regarding what is happening to our planet.
I come from a very religious community (in also a very modern city). I'm the second out of 5, my mom has 7 siblings, and my dad has 9 siblings. Large families are average. I've heard so many opinions about not mindlessly having children and while I agree to an extend, I feel like there's a bit more to it. I've seen my fair share of large families where the parents are unfit to emotionally or financially provide for their kids. It's very sad and unfortunate. I definitely think that it's best not to have kids if you're unfit to care for them. However there's nothing wrong with having a family if you and your partner takes care of them well. Kids shouldn't be looked at as something you need to gain or get back from. You are there to provide for them.
My spouse is omnivore and I am not (my only exception is sushi, my favorite😍) but he eats veggie like 90% of the time. We have also replaced a lot of dairy items with vegan items (milk, butter, cheese, not cream cheese tho because I can't seem to find a good one lol) He still eats turkey semi reguarly but he says he sees beef and pork now like a special treat and he is glad he cut back. I never asked him to eat vegetarian as well, but he has cut back so much on his own and it has been pretty cool to see. I do the grocery shopping and he knows he can always ask me to pick up meat products, but it's been over a month since I last did!
Ironically enough, the reason I started wanting to reduce the waste I produce and be more sustainable was because of my child and any future children I might have. I want them to have a bright and beautiful future. There are ways to have children and not impact the planet harshly. It is also possible to try and offset your kids impact on the planet. People want families for a lot of reason, and it's great that we as a society are recognizing the many different ways to define family. It's not right to shame people for how they choose to have one whether it's adoption, surrogacy, animal, friends etc. (Plus pretty much every first world country on the planet is having a major population crisis so, it's not like our population is growing by much)
My environmental hot take: If you're depressed, neurodivergent, grieving, or generally struggling with life BUY THE PAPER PLATES. Screw recycling and composting and zero waste if you're struggling to feed yourself. It's more sustainable to take care of yourself and gain more functioning than to beat yourself up about using a paper plate.
Another hot take - use water to wash yourself (like bidets) instead of toilet paper (no matter how sustainably packaged and shipped). It's a lot more hygienic, you don't even need that much water honestly and you can use a towel to pat yourself dry after.
I might not have the best solution - but if someone who isn't vegan wants beef I heard that goose tastes similar. They are drastically smaller, eat less, and some people use them for weeding and fertilizing gardens and fields.
My husband and I would never go vegan, however I recognize that the way we eat it is not sustainable, so we've cut back actually quite a bit and it wasn't that big of a change to our life. Now we maybe eat beef maybe once or twice a week.
personally given our environmental problems, I don't think it would be good to bring more people onto the planet at least until we can manifest carbon capture and/or other solutions to our environmental problems. Thank you for answering the no kids issue.
I still think if someone truly want kids, and can at least afford the basic needs for that family, then they should. Many people get them without even wanting them or thinking over it much, kids can be an "accident" or in rare cases from rape. Some may get kids simply because its expected. And all THAT needs to and can be reduced. But the world need more parents who truly want and care about their kids, and kids that have been raised in healthy homes. Ideally the whole world should have access to proper sex ed from puberty age and birth control
Killing cockroaches with your hand?! I just use ✨La Chancla✨ I try to trap and take out of my house any insect that bother me but cockroaches disgust me so is an instinct to kill them 😝
I think killing things that can harm you, aka mosquito with West Nile or malaria, totally makes sense, but killing something just because it disgusts you is something that I hope you stop and think about. ❤️
Re: toothpaste: My dentist (who is INCREDIBLY thorough and nit-picky) told me that studies show toothpaste doesn't matter much. What matters is mostly brushing technique, and so a good technique with no toothpaste at all will actually yield much better results than sloppily brushing your teeth with great toothpaste. Minty toothpaste breath isn't necessarily clean breath, it's just masking. Fluorite, however, is important.
I have to pause half way through to make this comment- I’m so glad you mentioned your opinion on eating meat to avoid food waste! I feel the same way and on the few occasions that I have explained that to people they get so confused and judgmental 🙃 Editing your add about the roaches 😂 I just moved to SC and there are roaches EVERYWHERE. People legit refer to them as the state bird. When they are in my house I kill them with a shoe and then sweep them into a dust pan. No hands or napkins needed 🤢
My hot take; we're ALL hypocrites by simply living in society and the systems we do. If only those that live in the woods can the ones to demand change then nothing will change. Being part of a system AND demanding for it to change is valid.
If I have bugs in my home like spiders and centipedes, I just leave them. Most of the time they’re harmless. I don’t bother taking them outside. I do move bees and wasps outside if they find their way in
I wouldn't personally eat leftover ready for the landfil meat, but I wouldn't judge someone who would❤ definitely understand its more sustainable then throwing it away but personally I could never eat an animal again. Veganism is equally about the planet, ethics and your health. You can't be perfect all the time
Another hot take( this is a good place to vent haha!) our grid is not ready for the 100% adoption of renewable energy. We had an incredible amount of work to do before our 100 year old electric grid can meet the demands of influx from solar and wind. Plus, batteries use a non renewable resources and are currently the only way to store renewable energy on the market. The Grid is a great book on this subject:
actually batteries are recyclable, and can be scaled up very quickly. solar and hydro plants use big batteries like the one in south australia all the time, to even out the flow of power.
Thank you for mentioning nutrient deficiencies. I’ve had people come at me for not being vegan but I have fructose malabsorption and food allergies… my diet is already restricted for *medical* reasons. Also your veganism is not the same as my severe pain when I eat the wrong thing 😩 with that said, I eat far less meat than the average American and limit my red meat intake. I often have fully vegan days. Just not every day. People like me are not the enemy 😩
I don’t know what your other medical restrictions are but you should get help for your fructose malabsorption. I had that and getting my gut healthy was key. I also had SIBO at the same time. I had difficulty finding good info but now there are people like gojiman (Simon...I’m forgetting his last name) that are actually educated in helping people with these issues. It makes a huge difference in how you feel. ❤️
On the topic of not having kids for the environment, I think its super fine to make as a personal choice, but people should definitely not be shamed for having children. However, it has been shown that women's rights have greatly reduced the birth rate, so uplifting women in places such as southern Asia or sub-Saharan Africa could have a bigger effect than an individual deciding to not have children. By uplifting women, I mean creating job opportunities on par with men, introducing sex education, and providing access to birth control would be a better answer to the population concern rather than eco-fascism.
Yeah not having children for the sake of environmentalism crosses the line into putting *too* much responsibility on individuals to save the planet in proportion to their contribution to CC compared to corporations. Why should one person give up something important to them while fossil fuel companies experience no accountability whatsoever? Absolutely not fair. Also, the U.S. is already doing a good job in keeping many Americans from having children by making it as difficult as possible to build enough wealth to do so. The birth rate is already declining. I say all this as someone who is childfree by choice just because it's not something I personally want, but I think people who want it should have it.
Couldn't agree more. I was reading the Selfish Ape and this scientist called having many children "environmental terrorism" and well, let's just say I will not recommend that book to anyone...
Genuinely though this argument spurs the idea of overpopulation when the actual issue is unequal distribution of resources etc. Not a fan of David Attenborough using overpopulation as an argument too either.
I currently have a two and a half month old. Having children is something I knew I always wanted and if I’m being honest I do often worry about what kind of future she will have… but I plan on raising her in a low waste, plant based home and hoping that she can be a part of a positive change
Yay! Babies are soooo sweet, enjoy your bubs. Sounds like you’re teaching them good things 💓
Same! I worry about my tot the same age. So I try my best for him!
That is so cute! Good luck with that goal ❤
Thank you all!! Seeing some of the comments on here made me feel an insane amount of guilt for having a child and you all make me feel so much better! ☺️
Don’t feel bad, kids are a beautiful thing and theirs no shame in bringing wonderful humans into this world. I have one and my hopes are to foster ho adopt in the near future❤️
On the topic of kids: I am happily childfree for many reasons. I am of the opinion that folks need to start THINKING before having kids. Some just have because "it is what one does". HELL NO! Remember you are bringing a helpless human being into a very hard world with finite resources. It takes work and a lot of devotion to raise them into decent and responsible folks. So, if it is not a "hell yes", it should be a no. I am aware that this is a bit of a first world problem, but it is what I have noticed around me. We should work on education and emancipation and on the access to birth control so that people start realizing that kids are a choice and one not to be taken lightly!
yes! People should feel the importance of THINKING if being a parent is the path for them specifically. For them with their partner. Everything you just said is what my coworker and I have been ranting about all week.
This is the comment I was going to write but you did it better 😅 Our society and culture seems to think becoming a mother is inevitable for every woman (which is problematic in so many ways) I personally have never had any desire to have children and don't feel like I should have to explain my reasoning 🤷🏻♀️ If people want kids, more power to them but it shouldn't be the expected outcome.
THIS!!!!!!!!! Well said! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Definitely! I see many middle-class/well-off people having kids without really thinking about it, just because.
I was always on the fence about having them; it was something I always thought I'd do when older, and I wanted kids. But throughout my life I started to think about the kind of life I could give them. I'm from a third world country, and I made up my mind long ago: unless I could move to a better country, with access to a healthy, safe and more sustainable life, I would not have kids.
I have communicated that to my family as well, and they were understanding of my reasons. So far, I'm not closer to moving abroad, and not in a rush either - if I miss the "biological timing", then that's it, I don't mind. In my family, 2/3 of my generation are notplanning on having kids for various reasons - recognizing they wouldn't be fit to be parents, not wanting to give them a life in the current state of the world/country, finances, etc. And I honestly think that's amazing.
agreed! having kids is seen as the norm but it is literally not a requirement.
For the not having kids point, it's worth mentioning that one of the factors that leads to a lower birth rate is female education, so like you said, rather than saying people shouldn't have kids because it's selfish maybe if people thought of it in this way and maybe support charities/policies that encourage female education opportunities it would have that knock on effect of slowing the population growth (hard to imagine on a global scale though) 😊
Absolutely! Education is key!
Re: that hot take about eating animal-containing leftovers -- I am vegan more for ethical reasons than environmental but I would STILL eat animal-containing stuff my parents are about to throw away! I'm with ya Shelby, before that mac'n'cheese goes in the trash, you bet your butt I'm gonna smash them leftovers -- no food left behind XD
But if they know you’ll eat it, won’t they be buying it thinking you’ll be eating it? 🤷🏻♀️
@@alynawatersmusic I think it’s t more an occasional accidental excess thing. They don’t normally make too much food. It’s a one off.
The issue I have with the "no kids" line of argument, and which ties into the point you made about eco-fascism, is that it tends to be used as a stick by people in developed countries to beat people in less developed countries, and totally ignores both (a) the fact that developed countries are the ones that have created this mess, and (b) the legacy of colonialism and exploitation that has created the conditions in less developed countries
Definitely a point we need to consider in this discussion - poorer strati of the world's population really have other problems to think about. And a lack of access to resources (information, sex ed, birth control, legal abortions) often is the thing that leads to an exess of children in poorer countries. I'm from Brazil, and even though I'm fortunate enough to have been born into a more fortunate, middle-class family, even being surrounded by middle to upper class people, I've seen many having children due to lack of knowledge/carefulness. The thing to do is work against inequality and towards providing access to resources for those in need.
Not to mention that wealthy individuals (that tend to be from wealthier nations) have a larger environmental footprint than no matter how “green” their lifestyle. Instead of worrying about impoverished having children worry about the rich 💁🏻
Kinda agree. But what happened in the past is not even half as important as what can be done to solve the problem now. Its too late to change the past. The more the populations grow, the harder it becomes to actually help and feed everyone and possibly help people out of starvation and poverty. Which we should. Countries with a growing, but already high population need to make less kids, regardless if rich or poor. The goal should be good (not rich) living standards all across the world, where people at least have basic needs met and possibility for optimal health. And of course also having basic human rights. People in poor countries may also lack access to birth control and proper sex ed, and women often dont have the right to "say no", which means people may also get kids they dont even want there. Its also very irresponsible and even cruel to (intentionally) have kids when you cant even afford to feed them.
Saying that people who have kids don’t care about the environment gives big eco fascist vibes. The individuals aren’t the ones committing the majority of the pollution. Turn that anger towards corporations!
Agreed
ZERO WASTE TOOTHPASTE SUCKS - really I hate it xx this was a fun video xx ps. I want to try this one you mentioned though, but we don't have it in the UK!
I doo ok my hate all of it but I hate the tablets!! My teeth always feel dirty after a couple hours 🤢. They just don’t work for me and it’s sad!!
There is only one i like, and actually love: BEN & ANNA NATURAL WHITENING TOOTHPASTE WITH MINT OIL & SAGE
Boots has a toothpaste in a aluminium tube AND it tastes okay AND it has flouride ✌️ It's called Waken. It's not 100% Zero Waste but its better than plastic
I too hated the tablets but I currently use the happier beauty toothpaste which checks all the boxes: packaged in aluminium, contains a good amount of fluoride and most importantly has a very pleasant taste and texture.
We don’t even NEED toothpaste.
As long as you’re thorough w your toothbrush you do NOT need toothpaste. Save your money and the need for packaging and skip it altogether.
I brought up the guilt of having a kid up with my therapist and she suggested I watch the beginning of the movie Idiocracy. She basically said that so many people are having kids that are contributing to waste (and stupidity, like in the movie, but that's not relevant here), but we need more people in the world who will make it better. It's true, if I raise a kid that practices good environmental stewardship, then he can spread that knowledge or come up with additional solutions.
Your kid could end up not caring. I’m sure raising them well will help but there’s still a big chance they won’t be how you want. Better to teach the people who are already born. But I’m not telling you not to have kids, just that this logic isn’t as sound as you think
But the opposite of that is that you have no control over who your kid becomes. I couldn’t be further opposite from all the values & beliefs my parents taught me 🤷♀️
Honestly it comes down to personal choice. That is way too big of a life decision to base it soley off of environmental concerns IMO
This is such a hard question. My bf and I are in uni right now and we want to get married after we have our degrees. Then to wait a couple of years until trying for a baby. But with covid and everything burning and germany (where I live) beeing flooded I'm not sure if I even want to put children in this world. My bf said that we could raise the people who make it better but I think that's not fair. They shouldn't have a job before they are born and when they are born and maybe 20 years old it will be 2050. How are THEY supposed to change a destroyed world. It's really stressing me out 😣
maybe adoption might be an option?
I'm all for having kids as long as it's a choice you purposely made. My husband and I planned both of our babies and may have one more down the road. But we plan and raise them to be ware of the world around them. We eat meat here.. so I teach my kids where it comes from. You have chicken on your plate.... But where did it come from...? I want my kids to have a connection to where their food comes from so they have an appreciation for it. I'm teaching them to use up as much of the animal as possible and to not waste it.
So far .. my kiddos are very drawn to how we live with gardening and preserving food.
I like how most of your opinions / lessons are given from a purely educational standpoint and come off as without bias. That is so helpful to get your point across. We need more of that. It makes you want to listen to someone more when you don't feel like they're shaming your view.
The no kids thing is a hard one. I had planned on adoption until I read The Child Catchers (highly recommend!!!). Since WW2, there's been so much demand for adoptable kids that the adoption industry has become so corrupt, from "manufactured orphans" to straight up kidnapping and beyond. I might foster a teenager one day though.
from what I saw from around - people usually want babies or toddlers. But no one really wants teenagers. Personally my point of adopting is not to have a kid, but more to help a young person feel accepted, help them heal their inner child and later on give them the kick into life they need - give them background they know they can go back to
the adoption system needs a lot of fixing, it’s hard for some people to adopt within their own country so they adopt abroad. and the system is just rotted with greed and parents and kids end up getting exploited. It’s really hard to think about doing anything “moral” these days when the only way to access it is via capitalist pigs.
I wish there was a way they could make adoption cheaper and easier without sacrificing the safety of the child.
I might have to read that book, sounds interesting but terrifying.
This comment needs to be higher! Overseas adoption is really hard to regulate!
It’s so messed up that we have kids aging out of the foster system here and young kids being in such high demand that the system is corrupt. 😰👎🏻
I love the fact that some cosmetics manufacturers, for example, are encouraging people to return the aluminum containers for lip balms, moisturizers and solid perfumes
I am so glad you mentioned the fact that there are situations where a reusable rag is NOT the move. I have two cats and I hate that I feel like paper towels are a necessity.. but they are. Unless I stock up rags just for cleaning pet messes, or the occasional bug, and then hand washing it because it wouldn’t be a big enough load to use a machine.. it’s not realistic. Though I do save my to go napkins for sure!
I use reusable rags for almost everything, but I still use paper towels to clean toilet seats (and other areas around the toilet.) Sorry but I don't feel comfortable using a reusable anywhere near the toilet lol!
My dog had an unfortunate attack of diarrhea while we were at work one day. I was pretty glad to have a stash of paper napkins on hand. Some messes just need to be disposed of.
My mother-in-law is faecally incontinent. Yes there are washable incontinence pants, but neither hubby and I can deal, so we use adult nappies that get thrown away. Cleaning her up is hard enough using disposable gloves etc
my initial decision not to have children was based on environmental reasons, but ultimately i truly asked myself a question i dont think all that many people ask themselves...but when it comes to having kids, i think it either has to be a hell yes or a hell no- for the child's sake. being fully wanted is the least they deserve.
About the having kids thing, I personally have a genetic disability. Because of this I do not want to have kids because I wouldn’t want to pass that genetic mutation on and cause someone else to suffer because I was selfish. However telling all disabled people that they shouldn’t have kids would be eugenics and I certainly don’t approve of that. I think it’s kind of similar with environmentalism turning to eco fascism. Saying you personally won’t have kids is an individual choice but shaming others (esp poor poc) is not the side you want to align yourself with
Such an a good point!
Have a great day y'all!
Another super hot take: blaming the top 100 companies for being the largest emitters is absolutely passing the buck and causing inaction among individuals. The majority of these companies are oil, gas, coal, plastic manufacturers, and chemical manufactures. They have a demand to meet caused by consumers no matter how far down the line. Sure efficiencies can be put in place, but I’m sure from a monetary perspective those companies are already highly motivated to be efficient. Consumption is the market driver for primary source emissions from the top 100 companies.
Couldn’t agree with this more!!!
Thank you! I’ve seen too many people with that mindset
I’ve heard an environmental scientist put it as “it’s just another way to say that xx% of pollution is caused by consumers.” I mean, why are these companies producing pollution for? What for fun? They are doing it to meet a demand (whether they created it can be a discussion tho)
Re the lab grown meat - I’m sceptical that the resources required to grow meat in the lab is environmentally friendly. Having worked in labs for a couple years/ been involved in cell culture, the materials required include animal products and ALOT of plastic ware…
But it absolutely should be invested in because I think it could be environmentally friendly(er?)
But that’s how it usually starts right? The small lab scale experiments use up a lot of plastic and then when you can find industrial use then you can move to gigantic industrial labs which takes up other sorts of recourses
As a vegan if I were to run into a meat leftovers situation, if I knew my relatives were going to throw out any future leftovers I would take the food home to and I would find a carnist to gift the meal to. That way it is not wasted and I have displaced a meal that would have otherwise been meat, so only one meat meal was eaten instead of two.
and this is why we have pets lol 😂😂 they can eat any leftovers from others
My local council has this really cool section on their website where you can search the item you want to recycle and it'll tell you if it can go in curbside or a specific bin. Not sure it other places have this but I thought it was cool for the things I have to buy that I want to be able to recycle if I can't reuse
Also loved this video topic and I would like to see more like this! I love that your channel is now getting into the nuances and crevices of the ZW movement beyond the swaps.
I’ve always had a mix on this channel, seems people are just now realizing it 🙈
@@Shelbizleee Ah! I will look up your old ones! (To be clear, I knew you did topics besides swaps, but I guess what I meant is there are more…gray areas? regarding zero waste that you’ve been pointing out in recent videos. Either way, it’s awesome keep it up :))
Yes we need another video in this series!
I don't understand why sustainably packaged toothpaste can't just be normal toothpaste in some kind of better recyclable packaging like a glass jar. Is there something I'm missing???
Yes! Natives toothpaste has fluoride in the packaging is recyclable and it’s actually toothpaste. Not bite tabs in a glass jar.
Hey! Humans and Davids both have normal toothpaste in completely aluminum tubes, which is fully recyclable!
Many cities and towns have limited recycling. My parents can only recycle cans, newspapers and cardboard. I was shocked no plastics or glass.
I'm of the same opinion as you when it comes to kids. I personally don't plan on having any biological children and would like to adopt but I would never judge anyone who chooses to have children and would never tell someone not to have kids. I personally feel like there are already too many humans on the earth but I'm not going to expect everyone else to do what I do.
Adoption can be unethical sometimes
@@satnamsattykaur I agree
@@satnamsattykaur how can adopting be unethical?
@@peachypie2962 how would u say adoption can be unethical?
@@mamaprojects4120 Google it. It's a complex issue and there are lots of examples out there. Especially of adoptive or foster parents not properly advised of the mental health problems of a child and then being unable to cope with said child and no support being given by social services. There are many other issues, such as adopting babies from other countries and white people adopting non-white children, but like I say, Google.
Love you so much, Shelby! You're amazing and I'm so glad youre talking about this in a fair manner! My wife and I both have to keep eating some amount of meat, because were both severely anemic, and bad things happen when we try to cut out meat completely (we did try!). What we do instead is, we buy meat only at the farmers market, where the meat is grown on the islands we live on, and we HUGELY diversify what types of meat we eat. Rather than just focusing on beef, which ive noticed a lot of vegans/veges do, we eat pretty much everything but pork.
Also, the idea that its unethical to have children sounds waaayyy too much like eugenics to me.
I really enjoyed you video. Especially how logically you come up with answers. Everything has good and bad stuff, nothing is perfect.
I love that you talked about population and having children since it is such a touchy topic. I've always been a believer that the children should not outnumber the adults in the household, so that each child can get the individual attention they deserve. This also aligns with my belief that you can replace yourself, and possibly your partner, on the planet, but there is no need to have a surplus of children. Personally I think large-family line of thinking is pretty selfish, especially when the older children are expected to help and take care of the younger children. Keep families small, adopt, foster, be a surrogate for someone who can't have children, get involved with youth programs in your community, there's more than one way to be a "parent" and enrich the lives of the future generations.
Love this! I agree.
I completely agree!!!
My parents had 9 kids because they are quite religious and believed that they should have as many kids as God decided and I can tell you it was not a good choice for us (the kids). Horrible relationships and family dynamics within our family. 😔 & it puts strain on kids when they are teenagers and have to do parent jobs they didn't choose to do. I don't think big families are a good thing. 😵 I have many more negative memories from childhood than positive memories.
@@BrightStar717 Thanks for sharing your experience, I'm sorry your negative childhood memories outweighed the positive, but I hope the opposite it true for your adulthood. ❤
What I thought was super interesting when I was looking into worm composting, was that the worms used decide to not over reproduce because they know it'll be a competition for food. I thought it's insane how worms can self regulate themselves but us people have a hard time discussing this.
I think one of the reasons it comes to is not enough resources for people: condoms, birth control, Plan B, etc. Especially the education!!! In my county the schools who decided to stop having sex ed saw in increase of student pregnancies.
It's not really a conscious decision though, it's in reaction to the amount of available food. Humans do this as well, if you don't have enough food you are likely to stop menstruating, and not have as many children, or fewer of your children will survive. Pond snails in an aquarium are the same. If your aquarium is being overrun with them it's because you're providing them with too much food.
Thank you, Shelbi. I'm a 13 year vegan and support lab grown meat 100%!
@Claire Youmans I didn't mean to imply that I would eat lab grown meat. I would not. My 100% support of it is in hopes that it will revolutionize the animal-meat industries, both industrial and small scale, hopefully, saving billions and billions of animals from the horrors of animal agriculture. Also, I live in NC, second largest "hog farm" state. So, I see the enormous impact of air pollution, water and land degradation, fish kills from algae blooms, and the harms that come to the mostly minority communities that lack financial resources to fight "big hog money" from destroying their communities first hand. My hope is that lab grown meat will be the future-- not only for the animals, but for the people effected by animal agriculture in their own back yards, as well as for the health of the planet we all call home. So, thanks for your reply, sounds like we're on the same page.
Ahh!!! I'm fangirling so hard right now that I was the first person featured in this video! Plus, you actually agreeing! :)
Thank you for saying something about being an environmentalist and eating meat. I was born with nutritional deficiencies where I HAVE to eat meat, I really hope lab grown meat becomes more accessible and affordable in the near future.
Not sure when lab grown meat comes out. But I dont do well on a plant based diet either (not deficient with my normal diet with meat). I think we need a video that talks about the difference between animal species for meat and how much they pollute. Im all for discussing the animal welfare aspect too, which I think is really important when its a sentient feeling being and this is actually their whole life. Some brands have considerably better animal welfare than the minimum standard, which is quite terrible
Suggestion for next video: I’d love to see something about picking efficient appliances for the home (read: washer and dryer, fridge, dishwasher, maybe what type of water heater is best, etc). Could possibly be a mini series with opportunity for sponsors like Home Depot to show up again.
As someone who’s preparing for homeownership, I’m really interested in how to make my home more efficient to not only save money on bills but also to be less impactful on the planet. I know some will say homeownership in general is bad, but renting is neither a strong option in my area nor a means of generating wealth.
I wish more people would adopt I hope that if you do you share it all and encourage others too !
I'm 15 seconds into this video and I have to say your HAIR looks incredible!! Wow so gorg. Ok gonna watch the video now, can't wait to hear the tea haha.
Soil degradation is scary 😔 watching The Biggest Little Farm on Netflix gives me hope. I really hope we take sustainable farming seriously.
I loved that documentary so much! It definitely gave me a little bit of hope to
Loved that documentary! 👍🏻❤️
I found you on Tik Tok and didnt know you had a RUclips channel! Happy to be here
Moderation in all things, People! I probably eat meat or fish once or twice a week. But only a small portion and it is not my major meal focus!
I had two children, one biological and one adopted. I would have loved a larger family but was mindful of the responsibility of raising moral, kind and caring individuals.
I think this was very eloquent! I agree about the future children and you handled it very well.
So my City is completely getting rid of our recycling program and idk what to do now. There are some things I have to buy packaged and have no choice and I really don't want to throw these things away in the landfill.. maybe I'll just move lol
Anyone who wants more sustainable toothpaste and doesn't live in the US, try Ben&Anna. Their toothpastes come in little glass jars, with an aluminium lid and a bamboo thing you use to spread the toothpaste. It's a great toothpaste in terms of taste and texture and they have options with flouride! I love it!
This is definitely one of my favourite videos!! I personally don’t have much hope for future generations so I won’t be having any children in an effort to lessen future suffering, but will happily adopt if the times comes I feel I need to be a mother. I don’t believe anyone should be shamed for such a personal choice but we certainly have no shortage of children in need of a safe and loving family already on the planet.
I think you brought up a great point that it is unbridled consumption, not the birth of a baby, that causes damage to the environmental future. Human life is precious and on a completely different scale than inanimate goods. To mandate that any person couldn't be born or couldn't give birth is such a violation to human rights.
One trend that has really been frustrating lately is people using big business as an excuse to not do their part. It’s this lazy attitude of “well, most of the world’s waste and carbon emissions come from big companies, so don’t shame me for not recycling/using my AC excessively/etc!” Obviously it’s true that big companies are the biggest offenders but that is NOT an excuse to give up and not put in any effort. On an individual level it’s still our duty to do whatever we can. I think that’s where the appeal of zero-waste comes from; it puts power back into individual people’s hands and reminds them that they CAN help. Shrugging and saying “well, it’s all big industry’s fault; you can’t blame consumers” and then doing nothing is being a part of the problem. We are ALL capable of doing something even if it’s as small as using a reusable shopping bag. It still helps.
Ben & Anna-Toothpaste is a blessing!
If we kill a pest, we usually use a bug zapper flyswatter that runs on rechargeable batteries and no napkin is wasted. If smashing is a necessary, we'll use a shoe and then a wet washcloth to clean up the mess that can then be rinsed and washed.
Thanks for the video! There are so many sides to these points its hard to weigh them out in a 15 min video… that being said I saw water in an aluminum can the other day… didn’t get to read if it was from recycled or new materials but i thought it was interesting.
One thing that really changed my perspective on whether or not having kids is ethical was a video I saw where women who are indigenous to so-called Canada were talking about how they didn’t relate to not wanting to have kids “because the world is ending”, because to them, the world already *has* ended. They’re rebuilding their lives and communities from the ground up, and having bio kids after decades of forced-sterilization is an act of protest.
Have you tried Smyle toothtabs? They offer an option to get a small glass bottle to store them in, come in a recyclable paper bag and they offer both fluoride and fluoride free options!
that cockroach one :'D - I personally avoid killing them and am quite concerned about how normalised it is to kill bugs and insects! the mainstream appearance of environmentalism rightfully protects larger animals, but it's not just these that we need to protect, it's actually a lot of living bacteria, insects and microscopic creatures that we're losing to a changing climate. I also have obscene allergic reactions when i get bitten, so I put a repellent on my own body but do not like to go around spraying it all over my room or anything.
I don't kill spiders or flies unless they're really bothering me but cockroaches and ants disgust me and make me itch! I don't know if it's just a problem in my country but in summer ants come in millions. Just recently my mum found a mountain of ants near the oven
@@as19J01 Ants aren't much of a problem for me, but I do feel you on the roach thing! Other insects I try to trap and get them out of the house safely, but cockroaches make me have goosebumps. I've had to deal with them not that often, but often enough to not feel sorry for them. But I don't get the napkin thing... that's going too close to them with your hands! I throw shoes, and clean up what's left after I know they won't be moving anymore...
I agree. I try not to kill anything - even aphids lol
It really depends on the environment you live in. If you're in a suburban house, you should be able to do a deep clean and evict roaches. But for people living in an apartment complex in a city, they don't really have a choice. If the apartment next to you or above you is an atrocious trash heap, releasing roaches just means they come back in your home again and again.
I have no aversion to killing roaches, but I find capturing them in a small jar is much easier than trying to squash them with a napkin. I also don't want to have to breathe roach spray.
loved the vid Shelbee, would love another episode!! x
Im just here to say that im from Uruguay and in my country we don't even get so many eco friendly choices regarding product or even reusable water bottles, an Hydroflask cost 100usd here and not everyone has the chance to do grab it, also we don't even get good reusable bags or reciclen toilet paper, unfortunately we have to really do it slowly since we are a bit behind it, love the tips and also the info!
I agree with "zero-waste is not the answer" BUT I also feel like I can't ask businesses and governments to change, if I'm not willing to change. And I also think spending my money on zero-waste things and systems shows companies and governments that people are willing to use different packaging/systems/etc. I'm new to the realm of lowering my waste, but that's this amateur's hot take.
Yes! I often use this as argument! If I want more peace in the world, I have to start being less agressive and considering others. If I want a better world, I have to start to be better! The same with being sustentaible. If I want to big companys use less plastic, I have to start to use less plastic! People often don't realize how your polithical thinking is formed after you try to change the way you live. Of course, in the process, we still have to demand from these autorities!
@@alicecampos6104 This. This. This! 100% agree!
I agree. Hank Green from vlogbrothers recently addressed this issue and framed it as "it will be hard to convince politicians there is a climate change emergency if we don't start behaving like there is an emergency" (paraphrasing), which is where I think the zero waste movement comes in.
@@360shadowmoon Exactly!
Yes, agreed. I feel like every big company is trying to tout its sustainability in a way that no one did ten years ago - partly because they know there's a market for it, but also because companies are run by people who also live on the planet (Tesla/SpaceX potentially excepted...kidding) and the more that caring about the environment is normalized, the more that the people who make decisions will assume that this is something they should care about. Also like, products DO stop being produced if no one buys them.
Yay, thanx for not killing bugs and mentioning it. Just because they are not cute and are easily killable doesn't mean you should kill them. They also have value in this life.
While I don't think we have the authority to tell people NOT to procreate, it's one of the many reasons we chose adoption. Personally, I'd feel selfish and irresponsible (AGAIN SPEAKING ABOUT MYSELF SPECIFICALLY) bringing more people into the world when there are already so many children without families.
Do you know how we can invest in lab grown meat? Asking because I also watched a video by you about investing in sustainable companies and I think lab grown meat is going to be a game changer.
I ended up loving Bite Toothpaste Bits and they have a Fluoride alternative. I know it's not for everyone (I know the texture is odd for some...I make sure it's crushed to a powder before brushing with). My dentist actually likes it, too.
i switched to native on your reccomendation and as odd as it sounds, stopping using antiperspirant has made me sweat a lot less, and i live in a hot, humid area. it took about two weeks for my sweat production to change and it’s been way, way better since
Happy to hear this!
We just moved and I’m trying to implement new ways of doing things here. Just bought native deodorant. I was holding off bc it’s more than I usually spend and I’m very acidic so it’s hard to cut the smell ☹️ but I gave in and sure enough no smells! A lot of “regular” name brands aren’t even able to do that for me.
🎉🎉🎉
Have you heard of BOCA refillable toothpaste? It’s like normal toothpaste, has fluoride in it, tastes nice. And you refill the tubes using compostable refills.
Thanks Shelby, always appreciate your well-researched take on things. Great video 🥰❤️
To hand roach commenter: ...use a shoe?????
Because of a medical condition and my small town rural environment, I am unable to be plant-based. I don’t eat red meat; however, I am lucky enough to have locally raised and butchered poultry. In order to go zero-waste and plant-based, I would have to drive over 130 miles round trip. So, the three or four poultry meals I have each week, paired with minimally packaged foods is the best way for me to eat sustainably and healthily. Not all solutions work for all people. Shelbi, I appreciate that you promote that idea, which is motivating and speaks to all your viewers, not just those who are fortunate to have the same resources as you 😊
I agree with you 100% on the topic of kids. For health reasons and my personal beliefs, I consider it unethical to have kids. But, I'm not going to bag on a woman who wants to have kids...as long as they raise them right and aren't entitled about it. We need parents to raise the next generation of informed, responsible adults to carry on when we're all gone.
I agree with pretty much everything being said about having kids in this day and age.
Some people REAAAALLY want kids. It's like, their whole life, their identity, their dream.
I would never tell them to not have kids.
But being childfree definitely should be encouraged. We should at least urge our kids, communities to think about it and consider it.
Too many people have kids just because they think they're supposed to or because they have pressure from their family or community.
We need some people to have kids (if we want to sustain the human race lol which I know some people aren’t keen on) and we also need some people to not have kids. Population control. There's a little too much pressure and focus on having a big family, especially in certain religions and cultures. We should not try to grow and grow and grow. We have reached the point where there are more than enough people in the planet, we don’t need to keep growing!
We definitely need to have better resource distribution and less waste to care for countries full of struggling people.
Better access to birth control, too.
Anyway, long story short, I agree that having kids right now is not the best idea for them or our environment, but people who really really want children should still have them. People who don't feel strongly shouldn't have them just for the sake of another checkmark on the generic to-do list of life.
I have this wonderful thing called a CRITTER CATCHER- I can grab spiders and stink bugs and then safely remove them from my home without a tissue or a flush of the toilet.
Alternative take on meat consumption:
I am not a big red meat person at all, but on the rare occasion I do have some, I always purchase from one of the small local farms in my area. I am friends with the owners and have seen first hand that the treatment is very humane. Every year they have the same number of calves born (no spike due to demand) bc that is all they have the resources for to sustainably raise them. By purchasing from them i keep the money out of the pockets of corporate farms and it has the same effect as if i didn’t eat meat at all bc I am not increasing their demand
I purchase a whole locally raised grass fed cow. Lasts the year. Only eats grass, drinks water and poops.
9:06 that only-child pressure of ending an entire bloodline if I don’t have kids really gets me
when it comes to “population control” discussions - providing healthcare and education to women around the world can give women the power to control their family life and is predicted to lower the population increase by 2 billion. Project drawdown can tell you more
can you make a video on growing/raising your own food?
I like more 'controversial' topics around sustainable living, there isn't enough civil conversation. People tend to feel so strongly about something and stick to their echo chambers and then easily fall into arms of eco fascism or complete opposite side of the spectrum.
I believe people should be able to have children without judgement, ultimately we are animals and it is wired in our biology. But! We must rethink big families, be more considerate and mindful with family planning and we have to normalise not having children. There is no wrong reason NOT to have children but there are plenty of bad reasons to have them (societal/cultural pressure, 'saving' your relationship, lack of access to contraception and the list goes on). I come from extremely catholic country and I have observed how strongly religion has influenced our culture clearly defining the role of a woman (you're obliged to have children, contraception bad, abortions banned). This is true for vast majority of cultures where religion dictates how people should live (and so called 'first world' countries are not free of this indoctrination). Education and empowerment of women is the key.
I dislike when rich people preach 'sustanability' and proceed to have however many children they want. It also infuriates me when I see family channels on RUclips with 3+ children constantly talking about expanding the numbers because 'let's make baby girl because we only have boys'. I don't know if anyone else has noticed that but it's definitely a trend which sends very negative message as it promotes mindless procreation. Not to mention they use their children as cheap labour yet barely anyone questions it 🙄
Another one I dislike when people say zero waste/minimalism/ sustainable living makes no sense because it's those big companies that pollute environment. Absolutely they do and absolutely I agree we need systematic approach and system change, an individual should never carry the whole burden of saving the planet. But! We as consumers hold some power, companies provide products because we demand it. By refusing unnecessary products and changing our habits we can send a message that we no longer want to participate in over consumption, we no longer demand beef burgers five times a week or we no longer need as much petrol etc. I know it's not all that straight forward, people are in different situations and not every lifestyle change is equally attainable for everyone and reshaping current processes will definitely be a tricky job for number of reasons. However, we cannot just ignore individual responsibility and I really dislike when people don't even want to try to think what they could change and refuse to get basic education regarding what is happening to our planet.
I come from a very religious community (in also a very modern city). I'm the second out of 5, my mom has 7 siblings, and my dad has 9 siblings. Large families are average. I've heard so many opinions about not mindlessly having children and while I agree to an extend, I feel like there's a bit more to it.
I've seen my fair share of large families where the parents are unfit to emotionally or financially provide for their kids. It's very sad and unfortunate. I definitely think that it's best not to have kids if you're unfit to care for them. However there's nothing wrong with having a family if you and your partner takes care of them well. Kids shouldn't be looked at as something you need to gain or get back from. You are there to provide for them.
My spouse is omnivore and I am not (my only exception is sushi, my favorite😍) but he eats veggie like 90% of the time. We have also replaced a lot of dairy items with vegan items (milk, butter, cheese, not cream cheese tho because I can't seem to find a good one lol)
He still eats turkey semi reguarly but he says he sees beef and pork now like a special treat and he is glad he cut back. I never asked him to eat vegetarian as well, but he has cut back so much on his own and it has been pretty cool to see. I do the grocery shopping and he knows he can always ask me to pick up meat products, but it's been over a month since I last did!
do you have "sheese" cream cheese where you are? it's my favourite
Ironically enough, the reason I started wanting to reduce the waste I produce and be more sustainable was because of my child and any future children I might have. I want them to have a bright and beautiful future. There are ways to have children and not impact the planet harshly. It is also possible to try and offset your kids impact on the planet. People want families for a lot of reason, and it's great that we as a society are recognizing the many different ways to define family. It's not right to shame people for how they choose to have one whether it's adoption, surrogacy, animal, friends etc. (Plus pretty much every first world country on the planet is having a major population crisis so, it's not like our population is growing by much)
That is true that 1st world countries are having population issues. Some countries are offering tax incentives to have kids.
My environmental hot take: If you're depressed, neurodivergent, grieving, or generally struggling with life BUY THE PAPER PLATES. Screw recycling and composting and zero waste if you're struggling to feed yourself. It's more sustainable to take care of yourself and gain more functioning than to beat yourself up about using a paper plate.
Ooooh I’m excited for this shade! 😂
Another hot take - use water to wash yourself (like bidets) instead of toilet paper (no matter how sustainably packaged and shipped). It's a lot more hygienic, you don't even need that much water honestly and you can use a towel to pat yourself dry after.
We don't have single use napkins in our house, so we use toilet paper to catch those icky critters or clean up our pets messes
Same same but different
Hold up. Anytime i squish a bug. I bring out the shoe. Not my BARE HAND. or a NAPKIN. 🤣
I might not have the best solution - but if someone who isn't vegan wants beef I heard that goose tastes similar. They are drastically smaller, eat less, and some people use them for weeding and fertilizing gardens and fields.
Thank you!
People think having kids is unethical and adoption isnt? Whew I cant even begin on that one
You not wanting to say cockroach is sending me ILY
My husband and I would never go vegan, however I recognize that the way we eat it is not sustainable, so we've cut back actually quite a bit and it wasn't that big of a change to our life. Now we maybe eat beef maybe once or twice a week.
personally given our environmental problems, I don't think it would be good to bring more people onto the planet at least until we can manifest carbon capture and/or other solutions to our environmental problems. Thank you for answering the no kids issue.
I'd love to be a parent, but don't wish to raise children into a world that facing a reality of fishless oceans.
I still think if someone truly want kids, and can at least afford the basic needs for that family, then they should. Many people get them without even wanting them or thinking over it much, kids can be an "accident" or in rare cases from rape. Some may get kids simply because its expected. And all THAT needs to and can be reduced. But the world need more parents who truly want and care about their kids, and kids that have been raised in healthy homes. Ideally the whole world should have access to proper sex ed from puberty age and birth control
Killing cockroaches with your hand?! I just use ✨La Chancla✨ I try to trap and take out of my house any insect that bother me but cockroaches disgust me so is an instinct to kill them 😝
I think killing things that can harm you, aka mosquito with West Nile or malaria, totally makes sense, but killing something just because it disgusts you is something that I hope you stop and think about. ❤️
Re: toothpaste: My dentist (who is INCREDIBLY thorough and nit-picky) told me that studies show toothpaste doesn't matter much. What matters is mostly brushing technique, and so a good technique with no toothpaste at all will actually yield much better results than sloppily brushing your teeth with great toothpaste. Minty toothpaste breath isn't necessarily clean breath, it's just masking. Fluorite, however, is important.
I have to pause half way through to make this comment- I’m so glad you mentioned your opinion on eating meat to avoid food waste! I feel the same way and on the few occasions that I have explained that to people they get so confused and judgmental 🙃
Editing your add about the roaches 😂 I just moved to SC and there are roaches EVERYWHERE. People legit refer to them as the state bird. When they are in my house I kill them with a shoe and then sweep them into a dust pan. No hands or napkins needed 🤢
I need an hour-long version of this 🤩
Or a series, a series works too 🤪
My hot take; we're ALL hypocrites by simply living in society and the systems we do. If only those that live in the woods can the ones to demand change then nothing will change. Being part of a system AND demanding for it to change is valid.
Well informed video Shelby, thanks🙌🏻💕
Would love a sustainable school supply/back to school video :)
If I have bugs in my home like spiders and centipedes, I just leave them. Most of the time they’re harmless. I don’t bother taking them outside. I do move bees and wasps outside if they find their way in
Yup, beef is only sustainable if the scale is drastically reduced and both animal and plant agriculture are completely overhauled.
I wouldn't personally eat leftover ready for the landfil meat, but I wouldn't judge someone who would❤ definitely understand its more sustainable then throwing it away but personally I could never eat an animal again. Veganism is equally about the planet, ethics and your health. You can't be perfect all the time
Another hot take( this is a good place to vent haha!) our grid is not ready for the 100% adoption of renewable energy. We had an incredible amount of work to do before our 100 year old electric grid can meet the demands of influx from solar and wind. Plus, batteries use a non renewable resources and are currently the only way to store renewable energy on the market. The Grid is a great book on this subject:
actually batteries are recyclable, and can be scaled up very quickly. solar and hydro plants use big batteries like the one in south australia all the time, to even out the flow of power.
Should we all email Hey Humans about using recycled aluminum?
One of my favorite videos thus far. 👍🏻
Have y’all ever heard of a flyswatter
Thank you for mentioning nutrient deficiencies. I’ve had people come at me for not being vegan but I have fructose malabsorption and food allergies… my diet is already restricted for *medical* reasons. Also your veganism is not the same as my severe pain when I eat the wrong thing 😩 with that said, I eat far less meat than the average American and limit my red meat intake. I often have fully vegan days. Just not every day. People like me are not the enemy 😩
Also I second using disposable napkins for cat vomit 😭
I don’t know what your other medical restrictions are but you should get help for your fructose malabsorption. I had that and getting my gut healthy was key. I also had SIBO at the same time. I had difficulty finding good info but now there are people like gojiman (Simon...I’m forgetting his last name) that are actually educated in helping people with these issues. It makes a huge difference in how you feel. ❤️