By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The world is consuming resources at an unsustainable rate.  Reducing consumption is a sensitive and difficult subject to broach, but one that must take place if we want to keep a livable planet for future generations. It doesn’t have to be “all or nothing” or a call to return to a
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org In yet another dire warning, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), comprising hundreds of scientists and government representatives from across the globe, released its long-awaited report on the impacts of climate change.     The IPCC report states that climate change has already “caused impacts on natural and
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Yes, it is the 21st century, and hard as it is to believe, many people in the United States are opposed to health insurance plans covering birth control. How can someone be against contraception and empowering women to make the best choices for their own health and lives? The Supreme Court
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org World Water Day, recognized on March 22nd, should mark not only appreciation of this  most precious of resources, but also emphasize how global society can better conserve it during a time of erratic climate changes. But let’s take this a step further and talk about how the current economic system of
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By Anjie Cai, guest youth blogger for www.howmany.org. It’s frightening to look at bottled water from an economic perspective. Using cost-benefit analysis to examine the impact of bottled water, we realize how harmful it actually is. The Environmental Working Group’s 2011 Bottled Water Scorecard reported that bottled water costs “up to 1,900 times more than tap
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org If there was ever an issue that should galvanize the international community to take action – no matter politics or religion – child marriage has to be near the top of the list.  One in three girls in the developing world is married by age eighteen. The United Nations states that
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org As the world recognizes the 103rd International Women’s Day on March 8th, it is a good time to consider the role of women as an answer to improving food security, particularly in the face of global climate change. A recent report found that the narrowing of diversity in crop species contributing
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org How is this for a factoid about the state of the world today – the world loses or wastes a staggering 25 percent to 33 percent of the food it produces for consumption. This, despite 842 million people going hungry every day. This is according to according to the latest issue
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org One solution to easing the effects of global climate change is one that is not often heard – that of voluntary family planning. At a talk this week on “Condoms and Climate” given at the Commonwealth Club of California, Alan Weisman, author of Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Last week, the United Nations released a report that found that despite gains in reducing global poverty, growing inequalities will undo significant gains in health and longevity made over the past 20 years. According to the ICPD Beyond 2014 Global Report, the estimated 1 billion people living in the 50 to
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