By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Perhaps it’s telling that the UN climate meeting (officially known as COP 20) is being held in Lima, Peru.  It is an arid city of more than 8 million people and growing that receives less than an inch of rain annually.  With droughts increasing here and in many cities and regions
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org It is said that ignorance is bliss.  What about willful ignorance, or worse, indifference? It is undeniable that humans are changing the environment and affecting the planet’s biodiversity, and much of this change is not for the better.  But it is easier to stick our heads in the sand, look the
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org How does the old adage go?  Youth is wasted on the young, right? It is only wasted if the world chooses to not support and invest in young people.  Today, there are more youth than ever before in the history of humankind.  The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in its just
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Worldwide, 2.5 billion people lack access to proper sanitation.  That is nearly 40% of the world’s population. In fact, more people have a cell phone than a toilet. That is why World Toilet Day is recognized on November 19th.   A project of UN Water, the day is meant “to raise awareness
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org There is an African proverb that says “if you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.” Last month, at the Bioneers conference, Eve Ensler (yes, that Eve Ensler of Vagina Monologues fame), gave a stirring and emotional talk about her work with women in
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Family planning efforts are mainly directed at women, which makes sense.  Yet too often men are disregarded, and they should be part of most discussions on family planning. Involving both men and women will not only help families, but the environment too. One overlooked topic when it comes to women, men
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org There has been some hoopla over a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) about how decreasing human population numbers is not a quick fix for environmental problems. Well, of course it’s not a quick fix.  Nothing really is, short of a catastrophe.  The two authors
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org For several years now, the topic that water would be the next oil has been bandied about, implying that water would be as valuable as fossil fuels. That day of reckoning may be coming sooner than many people think.  Last week, Reuters reported that the city of São Paulo – South
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The theme of this past weekend’s Bioneers Summit Conference was “revolution from the heart of nature,” but more than that, it was also that land and life are sacred. If you aren’t familiar with Bioneers, it is an annual conference that just celebrated its 25th year. Attendees are referred to as
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The stock market is up and down, oil companies are making record profits, there is a growing gap between the have’s and the have nots, a large number of people take anti-depressants, and the environment is increasingly being degraded.  Do we accept this as the way it is, or is there
[continue reading…]