[MCN] 1 "most effective" way to reduce CO2 emissions, & save $$$

[Lance Olsen]

Excerpts

While it doesn’t receive a lot of media coverage as a savvy environmental move, not having a child is the most effective single decision you can make to reduce your carbon footprint. The second-best alternative, living car-free, isn’t even close. That’s according to Canadian research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters <http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541>. [ open access ] http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541 <http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541>
This graphic <https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/environmental-cost-of-child-480x619.jpg> <<https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/environmental-cost-of-child-480x619.jpg <https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/environmental-cost-of-child-480x619.jpg>>>shows the annual carbon savings from the highest-impact activities.

The carbon savings from not having a child vastly outweighs every other single solution for mitigating carbon. And this chart <https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/children-and-retirement-savings-480x680.jpg> <<https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/children-and-retirement-savings-480x680.jpg <https://assets.nerdwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/children-and-retirement-savings-480x680.jpg>>>shows the annual, not lifetime, savings. So not having a child accrues this benefit every single year.

Other options such as recycling, going car-free or eating vegetarian ... have little impact in comparison.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-the-environment-will-also-save-you-234000-2018-01-22 <https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-the-environment-will-also-save-you-234000-2018-01-22>


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“Schwartz and others (2010) found that grizzly bear survival in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem declined 
as road density, number of homes, and site developments increased.”

Flathead National Forest Biological Assessment, December 2017 p. 104

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