We often extoll the benefits of getting more nature in our lives. Jay Walljasper wrote about it for us, way back in 2005. But today we’ve got a bit of new research to further back up the premise: Green is good.
More specifically, a study published this month in Environmental Science and Technology compared mental health among people who moved near green space to those who moved to areas with less of it. The study followed about 1,000 people over five years. In the intervening years, 594 of them moved to greener pastures, compared to 470 who relocated to more bleak surroundings. The green cohort reported better mental health after the move, while the others did not change over the long term.
Not everyone can move to natural areas, but city planners could use this information to design happier communities. “Moving to greener urban areas was associated with sustained mental health improvements, suggesting that environmental policies to increase urban green space may have sustainable public health benefits,” concluded the researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School.
Photo: warrenski/Flickr
