On this year’s Earth Day (tomorrow), the Center for Biological Diversity wants you to think about the link between human population growth and wildlife extinction, so they’re putting images of some of the planet’s endangered species on sustainable condoms.  

The project, a collaboration between the center and Sustain Condoms, is focusing on polar bears, whooping cranes, monarch butterflies, sea otters, hellbender salamanders and horned lizards. 

“Nothing sparks a conversation like handing someone a condom, especially when it comes with a slogan like, ‘Before it gets hotter, remember the sea otter,'” said a statement by Stephanie Feldstein, the center’s population and sustainability director. “On Earth Day, everyone is looking for how they can save the planet. Talking about population and overconsumption, and understanding how we influence the world around us every day, is one of the most important steps we can all take to help the environment and our communities.”

Since 1970, the world’s population has nearly doubled from 3.7 billion to 7.2 billion, while wildlife has dramatically declined, according to the center. 

The organization proposes easy access to family planning, contraception and reproductive healthcare, sex education and women empowerment as options that can lead to long-term solutions to the exorbitant population growth. 

Tomorrow, more than 500 volunteers will be giving away 50,000 free Endangered Species Condoms at Earth Day events on college campuses and various venues around the country. 

(If you get one, take a photo and show us before you use it!)

Also, you can get more information on volunteering tomorrow or getting some of these condoms on the site, endangeredspeciescondoms.com.

This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

9 replies on “Earth Day: When Endangered Species Awareness & Sustainable Condoms Meet”

  1. “Since 1970, the world’s population has nearly doubled from 3.7 billion to 7.2 billion, while wildlife has dramatically declined, according to the center.

    …and the same happened since 1930-1970.

    Why no REAL animal numbers? Because they don’t exist.

    They’re just “blowin in the wind.”

  2. I think you could figure it out using the area of habitat required by each major species, which I believe is a known thing. You could then just keep mapping that to the avail, able area of required habitat and its rate of shrinkage over time. There’s your challenge, David W.

  3. Numerous species have been caught lying about the required habitat area. Just simply mapping that to the available are reported to be needed would prove just as pointless as using computer projections to guestimate the possibility of man made climate change .

    That’s why the scientists lied.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/6679082/Climate-change-this-is-the-worst-scientific-scandal-of-our-generation.html

    I don’t need a challenge. I challenge you to stop falling hook line and sinker for every scam that comes to the media through the internet.

  4. I think the Center for Biological Diversity should take their own advice and use the condoms themselves. At least then there will be fewer environmentalists around to poke their nose into everyone’s business.

  5. Exorbitant growth in population? But still no cure for the common cold? Make sure that he/she is conceived. Or it won’t happen. There’s safety in numbers.

    By the way is this bio diversity group opposed to open borders?

  6. It’s hard to believe there are people who believe we can continue the current rate of population growth without severe consequences (or that we haven’t already severely affected populations of other species).
    Good for the Center for talking about population. Most environmental groups won’t touch the subject, but it’s the key and I’m still optimistic people will get the message.

  7. What have you factored in for disease, genecide, suicide, infanticide, and murder?

    During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion.
    In 1970, there were roughly half as many people in the world as there are now.
    Because of declining growth rates, it will now take over 200 years to double again.

    source:Worldomoter.com

    Keyword? Declining.

  8. Many studies have been done on the precipitous decline in wildlife overall and the mass extinction crisis in which we find ourselves, the results of which are not difficult to find, for those who choose to be anything but willfully ignorant.

    In a nutshell, the overall number of wild animals on earth has been cut in half in the past 40 years, while the current extinction rate is 10,000 times the normal background rate. These catastrophes are both occurring for one simple reason: the negative impacts of totally unsustainable human population growth. We out-compete other species for resources, kill them and eat them in unsustainable numbers, poison them with our pollution, and destroy the places they need to survive.

    Once upon a time, we could be forgiven for such sins, and for believing that natural resources and wildlife were infinite and immune to our harmful influence. Now, thanks to science, we know better. The only real challenge remaining is a moral one–will we continue to remake our world into a homogenous, desolate place through irresponsible, wholesale destruction of nature, or we will take responsibility for our actions and commit to preserving as much as possible of what is left?

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