According to a new study, having children is the most destructive thing a person can do to the environment.
Having one fewer child per family can even save ““an average of 58.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year,” according to researchers from Lund University in Sweden.
Eating meat, driving a car as well as traveling by airplane also were up there when it comes to the most damage people can do to the planet.
But according to the study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, having children was at the top.
“A US family who chooses to have one fewer child would provide the same level of emissions reductions as 684 teenagers who choose to adopt comprehensive recycling for the rest of their lives,” it revealed.
Seth Wynes, lead author, revealed to The Local:
“We found there are four actions that could result in substantial decreases in an individual’s carbon footprint: eating a plant-based diet, avoiding air travel, living car free and having smaller families.”