How Helping the Environment Can Make You Feel Better

Climate change is a threat significantly impacting each of us, with the perils of our declining environment becoming more and more unsettling by the day. If you’re feeling guilt, anxiety, sadness, and anger about earth changes, you certainly aren’t alone. The answer isn't to avoid the natural world. Rather, it is to go towards it.

Connecting to the environment can help decrease stress and increase your mental health. This article will explore why helping the environment is important, the benefits of caring for our shared land, and ways you can get involved.

Why Helping the Environment Is Important

Climate change has reached an unprecedented point of peril. We are globally experiencing rising temperatures, widespread droughts, and intense natural disasters, all signs of our overburdened environment.

Climate change isn’t an individual issue—it is a collective issue that impacts each of us. When we all do our part in helping the environment, we shift our earth’s health for the better.

Additionally, helping the environment can help us feel a sense of control and agency in the midst of a phenomenon that feels very scary and unmanageable. 

Benefits of Helping the Environment

Helping the environment isn’t only beneficial to our earth—it is also very helpful for our mental and physical well-being. When we care for the environment, we are often engaged in the natural world, whether that is getting outside for a beach cleanup or growing your own food.

Through being outside and becoming active in nature, we can begin to experience both mental and physical health benefits.

Mental Health Benefits

When it comes to navigating the feelings that accompany climate change, engaging in pro-environmental behavior can be powerful in managing painful emotions.

While it is expected to have complex and challenging feelings regarding climate change, beginning to engage in the solution can be immensely helpful.

Physical Health Benefits

Climate change is especially dismal for our physical health. Air pollution, decreased quality of food and water, and stress are all threats to our physical well-being.

Taking positive action to offset climate change can, in turn, decrease the threats environmental changes pose to our physical health.

Furthermore, exploring ways to help the environment can result in healthy behaviors. Gardening is a great physical activity and growing your own food increases your intake of fruits and veggies.

What Are the Benefits of Getting Outside?

Getting outside is incredibly important for our mental and physical health. Spending time in nature can result in less cognitive fatigue, decreased risk of mental illness, enhanced mood, and higher self-esteem.

When it comes to physical health, outdoor activity can lead to decreased blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenaline.

Consider how you can get outside and help the environment. For example, volunteering at a nature reserve or helping plant trees with a local organization are two ways you can get outside and engage in pro-environmental behavior.

Ways You Can Help the Environment

As previously mentioned, hope requires action. In the spirit of moving toward the healing of our globe and the well-being of our communities, finding ways to get involved in helping the environment is essential.

Below are some ideas:

• Join a community garden. Community gardens help create healthy food and decrease the stress transporting food places on the environment.
• Use your bike as much as possible, especially for short trips. Studies show that 25% of volatile organic compounds are emitted in the first few miles of travel. Hopping on your bike for your next coffee trip can help keep air pollution down.
• Get into vintage shopping. The fashion industry is a major source of pollution—it produces 92 million tons of waste every single year. Buying used clothes can help the environment and give your wardrobe a boost of originality.
• Decrease your consumption. If you're wasting a lot of food or tend to buy knick-knacks that never get used, see where you can shift your habits to consume less. This can ultimately help you cut down on expenses as well, making it a win-win situation.
• Consider donating your time or money to environmentally-focused organizations. Earthjustice, The Nature Conservancy, and Natural Resources Defense Fund are just a few great options.

A Word From Verywell

It is hard to not feel scared and hopeless when considering our rapidly changing climate. However, there are steps you can take that aren’t only good for the environment, but also for your own wellness. You’re not in this alone and we are stronger together. If you’re finding that concerns about the environment are significantly impacting your daily life, reach out to a therapist for some support.