Men have a bigger carbon footprint than women, climate study finds

Women may be stereotyped as the gender that likes to shop, but spending by men has a much larger carbon footprint, according to a study of consumers in Sweden. 

The study, published this week in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, looked at the carbon emissions created by consumption among categories like food, clothing, furniture and vacations. Even though the several hundred single men and women studied spent similar amounts of money, men's purchases created 16% higher emissions, the authors found.  That's because men were more likely to drop money on high-emitting categories, such as gasoline for cars, spending 70% more than women on that expenditure. Women spent more on health care, clothing and furniture — consumer categories that were less emitting.