Cohabitation and the Environment
The National Academy of Sciences noted a global trend of in the number of households with fewer people, which correspond with higher divorce rates and increased consumption of water, energy and space. Between 1998 and 2002, divorces in the 12 countries studied—including United States, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Africa, Greece and Cambodia—accounted for 7.4 million extra households.
Analysis of U.S. data for 2005 showed that divorced households used an extra 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water compared with married households.
The researchers also compared married households in the United States with households that had weathered divorce and remarriage: The environmental footprint rose, then shrank back to that of married households. Other lifestyle trends that impact family living structures include the demise of multigenerational households, and people remaining single longer, the researchers concluded.
So if cohabitation with your ex doesn’t seem like a reasonable option, it may be worth considering sharing costs and resources with a parent, single friend, or similarly divorced family.
Collaborative divorce can set the groundwork for couples to find creative solutions to issues of property, living arrangements, and custody agreements. To find out more, contact a collaborative family lawyer.



