BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- A research of the environmental impact of divorce has proved that marriage is "greener" than divorce, media reported Tuesday.

"A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household," said researcher Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University.

Liu explained that divorce means more households, means more use of land, water and energy, which is absolutely bad for the environment. For example, two people living apart run two dishwashers, instead of just one.

"Some extra energy or water use may not sound like a big deal, but it adds up," Liu said.

In his research, Liu calculated 6.9 billion U.S. dollars in extra utility costs per year by the households headed by a divorced person in the United States, plus an added 3.6 billion dollars for water, in addition to other costs such as land use.

"People have been talking about how to protect the environment and combat climate change, but divorce is an overlooked factor that needs to be considered," Liu said.

Liu stressed that he isn't condemning divorce, "Some people really need to get divorces," he added, "But one way to be more environmentally friendly is to live with other people and that will reduce the impact."

The research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

(Agencies)