Assignment: Environmental Wellness
We may not think much about Environmental Wellness as part of an overall wellness plan, but our environment and how we feel about it can have a huge impact on the way we feel overall.
Environmental well-being includes trying to live in harmony with the Earth by understanding the impact of your interaction with nature and your personal environment, and taking action to protect the world around you. Protecting yourself from environmental hazards and minimizing the negative impact of your behavior on the environment are also central elements.
Leading a lifestyle that is respectful to our environment and minimizes any harm done to it is a critical part of environmental wellness. Examples of environmental threats include air pollution, ultraviolet radiation in the sunlight, chemicals, noise, water pollution, and second-hand smoke.
Achieving Environmental Wellness
Environmental wellness involves a number of different aspects of personal and societal responsibilities, including:
- Being aware of the earth's natural resources and their respective limits
- Living a life accountable to environmental needs, both in the present and in the long-term
- Realizing the effects of their daily habits on the world around them
Are you engaged in the process of environmental wellness?
- Do I recycle?
- If I see a safety hazard, do I take the steps to fix the problem?
- Do I volunteer time to worthy causes?
- Am I aware of my surroundings at all times?
If you answered "No" to any of the questions, it may indicate an area where you need to improve the state of your environmental wellness.
Tips to Improve Environmental Wellness
Environmental wellness is an awareness of the precarious state of the earth and the effects of your daily habits on the physical environment. It is maintaining a way of life that maximizes harmony with the earth and minimizes harm to the environment. It includes being involved in socially responsible activities to protect the environment.
Stop your junk mail - Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year. If one million people stopped their junk mail, we could save up to 1.5 million trees a year. About 44 percent of junk mail is never even opened or read. Contact the major senders of junk mail saying "take me off your list."
Snip your six-pack rings - Six-pack holders are virtually invisible underwater, so marine animals can't avoid them. Seagulls sometimes strangle themselves by catching one loop around their neck while another loop gets snagged on a stationary object. Before you toss six-pack holders into the garbage, snip each circle with a pair of scissors. When you're on the beach, pick up any six-pack rings you find, snip them, and put them in a trash can.
Don't leave your water running - Washing dishes with the tap running can use an average of 30 gallons of water. A running faucet uses three to five gallons of water per minute. As much as five gallons of water is wasted if you leave the tap on while brushing your teeth. If you wash your car at home using an ordinary hose, you can use up to 150 gallons of water. When brushing your teeth, wet and rinse your brush only. A half gallon of water will be used as opposed to five to nine gallons. When washing dishes by hand, fill up a basin of water instead of letting your water run. When washing your car, either take it to a self-service car wash, or use a shut-off nozzle on your hose when washing it a home. This can save more than 100 gallons of water.
Use recycled paper bags when shopping - Plastic shopping bags are not biodegradable. The bags never disappear in the earth; they just break into small pieces. Plastic bags that wind up in the ocean can kill marine life that swallow or get tangled in them. "Recyclable" paper bag does not mean recycled. If a bag does not say recycled, it's probably made from virgin paper. First, consider if you really need a bag before taking one - especially if your purchase is small. Also, bring your own cloth bags when you shop, or reuse old bags that you have already saved.