Climate change has dashed my dreams of motherhood
OPINION: As a little girl, I was always told that I'd make a good mother one day. Probably because I'm the older sibling, and as all eldest children (and younger siblings) know, we are the second parent and thus the second boss of the house. Sometimes I feel sorry for my brother and sister when I reflect on my bossing, nagging, telling off, and then I don't feel as bad when I remember that they didn't have to do that bossing, nagging and telling off. So of course, with the expectation of children at the back of my mind, I strove on with life. READ MORE: * We have to protest to get attention * 17-year-old climate change activist Mia Sutherland * We ignore the climate-change catastrophe at our peril * Let's discuss climate change as school students strike * Christchurch students striking for climate again * Climate change bill's emissions target 20 years too late - school campaigner I talked to my friends about their baby names, took up childminding as a part-time job and thoroughly enjoyed watching Offspring in my spare time. It's only recently that I've realised that having children may be irresponsible in my role as a climate activist . Not only does producing children create another human for the world to cater to, but this child will have to grow up in a rapidly changing environment, which may not be safe. Overpopulation is a part of the reason global warming is accelerating at such a rate. The mantra "infinite growth on a finite planet" rings true as, all of a sudden, we are 7.7 billion people strong and counting . It took us one thousand years to reach 1 billion, and then we were off, taking 200 years to expand our population by 6 billion to today. More people demand more food, which demands more energy and water to create, which demand the burning of fossil fuels to produce. Don't get me started on the luxuries beyond food. This consumerist culture we have created has us buying and buying, demanding more and more resources required to create products which may only last a few months before we feel the need to buy a new one, or two. When did we make the change from durable, long-lasting products to those which are flimsy, inflexible and cheap? Should I really be adding to this by creating another human whose life will demand energy, resources and time that the world doesn't have? It's simply unhealthy for us to be wanting so much. It's unhealthy for our minds and bodies, it's unhealthy for our planet. Being happy with what we've got is the only way we can curb our consumerism. The traditional two-parent three-child household could be a concept of the past considering the state our planet is in. In my 30s, this could be as foreign to me as a male-dominated household is to my mother. Sure, societies change for better or worse. But these are not the things I ever thought I would have to give up. In a lot of senses, I am lucky to be born into the life I live considering the impacts climate change has had on many places in the world. But to think that I have to reconsider the path I always thought I would take is heartbreaking. This is what we, student strikers, mean when we march down the streets saying "save our futures" . Everything we know about "growing up" is changing, so much so that we don't know what to expect for our adult lives. I can't have aspirations if I have to take into account the fact that every move I make should be with sensitivity to our changing environment. Don't you dare tell me that I'm brainwashed, that it's all a scam, that I'm foolish and naive. This is the reality that I am living with and will live with. This is the reality you, your children, your siblings and your grandchildren will live with. Everything about our world is changing and we have to change with it. My generation shouldn't have to make these sorts of sacrifices, but we do. Now, all we can do is try to limit the effects it has on our lives. This is why it is so important that submissions be made to the Government on the Zero Carbon Act . This bill has the potential to reduce the devastating impacts of climate change on my life and the lives of my peers. Submissions close today, July 16. They can be a sentence, they can be a paragraph, they can be whatever they want. But to me, they are something that could change my life. Mia Sutherland is a Christchurch high school student, an organiser of School Strike 4 Climate NZ , and a Stuff columnist.