The "produce and consume" economy is a narrow-minded perspective which isn't conducive to a healthy planet. Advertising generates demand for things we don't really need, then we go to work to make those things and earn the money to buy those things, then we need more energy to run those things, and dispose our OLD things in ways that are harmful to the planet, meanwhile we ignore the legitimate basic needs of perhaps a billion poor around the world. It's a vicious circle of greed, self-interest, and ignorance. That doesn't mean any particular individual is EVIL here, it's just what happens when we sleepwalk through our lives, not really understanding our relationship to the Whole, and focusing primarily on our own personal pleasure and ego. Multiply that behavior times 6 billion people, and you have a real recipe for trouble on a global scale -- which is exactly what we have. So your question (a form of "how can I make a difference?") is a great question. Ultimately, there are two answers which are both true, and complimentary to each other: (a) you can't (b) you're responsible for the whole thing. Like matter and anti-matter, you have to get these two answers into the same room with each other and let them merge -- then the problem explodes and takes the rest of reality with it. What does this mean? "You can't make a difference" is the objective view: you're just one little person, no matter how high you rise in public office your effect is very limited. You cannot solve the world's problems, and neither can I. On the other hand, "You're responsible for the whole thing" means that there's nobody "out there". It's your planet. You cannot count on anybody else to save it. No savior is coming, no knight in shining armor. Each moment of your life is your chance to transform the Whole. That's the subjective view. In Zen we say "the subjective and objective views are related like a box and its lid". It's not that one is true and the other false, they're BOTH true. What most people do is adopt one view and lose sight of truth embedded in the other. To be able to put one foot in both of those views at the same time, without freaking out... that's freedom. And that's the freedom you need in order to be able to make a difference without getting all worked up and attached to the outcome. That's also what it means to understand "true self".

China has been condemned for limiting birth rate and parents abort the babies that aren't the gender they want, skewing the male to female ratio. I don't think there is a simple answer considering as you said, religion, hormones etc. I think if we were somehow able to just stop all unplanned pregnancies, it might be a start. Too bad a valve can't be placed on people's reproductive organs at birth or at least before puberty and only turned on when they want to reproduce and maybe even have passed a basic parenting test of some sort. Maybe I read too much science fiction. ha