Yesterday was Earthday. Everyday we see commercials, flyers and other PCA's that promote "Going Green". We have single stream recycling, recycled benches at our parks and environmentally friendly light bulbs. But it appears as if we have over looked a huge way to "Go Green". Did you know:- In the United States alone, divorced households use 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water that could have been saved had household size remained the same as that of married households. Thirty-eight million extra rooms were needed with associated costs for heating and lighting.
- In the United States and 11 other countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico and South Africa between 1998 and 2002, if divorced households had combined to have the same average household size as married households, there could have been 7.4 million fewer households in these countries.
- The numbers of divorced households in these countries ranged from 40,000 in Costa Rica to almost 16 million in the United States around 2000.
- The number of rooms per person in divorced households was 33 percent to 95 percent greater than in married households.
Think of all the extra resources that are used to accommodate a two family household. Why isn't this promoted? How about a commercial for "Marriage and Family"? Although I think it is a great idea to recycle and reuse, I think we can go further and strengthen our family unit. Studies have shown that it is healthier, more economical and now "Green" to keep the family together and promote a strong family unit. So if you are truly going to "Go Green", you might want to put a little time and effort into your marriage and family life. Mother Nature will thank you later...
