Greyer is greener

As I slip slowly into my dotage I have at least one consolation—I'm less of a burden on the planet. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany found that per-capita carbon dioxide emissions in Western countries rise steadily as children become adults and as adults become more affluent, but after the age of 60 emissions decline by roughly 20 per cent.

The German study indicates that since 1950, aging has caused a 30 per cent increase in German emissions, as the baby boomers grew into middle age. But after 2020, "as the proportion of people older than 80 continues to increase and the population size shrinks, emissions will decrease and reach pre-1950 levels by 2100."

Health costs will rise, but even that will be less of a problem than often thought. Studies show that most of the bills for looking after old people occur in the last two years of life, regardless of their age, and healthy life expectancy is rising as fast as total life expectancy.

So you may become a little more demanding of society as old age creeps up on you, but more importantly you are less demanding of mother Earth.