According a recent National Geographic article (“Your Brain on Nature”, January 2016) there has been an increasing amount of research documenting the positive effects simply being in nature has. More and more studies and experiments are reporting an association between being in nature, or otherwise experiencing nature, and lower levels of stress. These studies and anecdotes come from around the world. The general theme of these studies is that experiencing nature can lead to demonstrable decreases of stress-producing hormones. In the other words, the environment can make us healthier—if we choose to let it do so by valuing and preserving it.
This is an interesting parallel to a perspective that incorporates sustainability into one’s life or business. Sustainability implies a concern or a care for the environment. In one context, it is using economic decisions to lessen (or minimize or eliminate) stress on the environment. For example, buying a product made from recycled material incurs far less environmental costs than buying new. Or, products made with environmental sensitivity (organic cotton) use less environmental resources than others, say, regular cotton.
I think it is interesting how we can take care of our environment through our daily decisions, and the environment, in a very broad sense, can take care of us. That is a great example of mutual assured well-being!
SustainableWritings 