I would have thought that it was pretty obvious that they waste energy and water for that matter, with single 25+ males being the worst culprits....
Yes there are some things that are used hand in hand with the number of people in a house, but things like watching TV - whether there's 1 or 5 people watching, it's the same amount of power; the fridge and freezer take the same amount of energy to run (if not more as they aren't stocked as well) plus all of the extra gadgets single people often have around as a source of entertainment / relaxation because there aren't people around to talk to and do things with. They're more likely to put in a half load of washing therefore waste water and electricity. Housing with communal facilities would definitely help.
There's also the footprint element - look at how much space one person needs and then 2 and 3 etc. Eventhough we live in a decent sized house, it's not 3 times the size of the flat I had when I lived on my own. I should think that couples living in a block of flats are the most "economical" as heating costs are less, likewise cooling (other flats are great insulation!).
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suttree
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You make a very valid point that although some single householders are the worst offenders, it's also in a single household that it is easiest to make an impact - you can control your usage of utiliites and creation of waste much more easily than a family can.
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