Meet Tricia and Mickey Bhotiwihok.

Last year, on the heels of announcements that Prince William and Kate Middleton were having a third child, Los Angelinos Mickey and Tricia set a different example. Like Having Kids’ other Featured Families, Mickey and Tricia chose a smaller family, two children in their case. They understand that choosing a smaller family is the best way to protect their kids’ future and the environment at the same time. It’s a win-win. But only if we all work together.

Tricia and Mickey are leading by example and steering the world towards a better future. We all benefit from what they’ve done.

Here are the facts:

• The most effective way to address many of the impacts on our environment and other species, like climate change, is by choosing smaller families. Yes, it’s more effective than changing diet or forms of transportation.
• The growth scenarios depicted on the graph depend only on whether the average woman in the world today has one child more or one child fewer in her lifetime.
• Very few environmental organizations publicly support an ethic and policy of smaller families for all. They use a family planning model developed when the world was unaware of climate change.
• Child-first family planning provides a clear human rights-based solution and path forward.

For Earth Day, Having Kids is issuing this challenge:

We are urging environmental and animal protection organizations to adopt a public position on family planning, simply one that furthers their mission, before Earth Day 2020.

Want to take action? If you are a member of environmental and/or animal protection organizations politely encourage those organizations to meet the Having Kids Earth Day Challenge.