Green spaces and organic gardens are still a mystery to many people. The words are spoken and images of health and happy people spending time outdoors come to mind. But what are green spaces and organic gardens? Well green spaces are exactly what they sound like. They are areas where trees, grass, and other forms of vegetation have been intentionally placed in order to benefit the people that work and live in that area. Simple enough right? Well there are several forms of green spaces. Of course parks pop into mind first but there are also playgrounds, playing fields, dock yards, meadows, woodlands, nature reserves, vertical gardens that run up the sides of buildings, and many more. The definition of an organic garden is much more simple. At the most basic, organic gardening is gardening without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. So these both seem like simple enough things to for people to incorporate into their lives right? Well, that’s not so. When adults in the United States spend more time in their cars than they do outside, it becomes harder and harder for people in today’s society to get time outdoors.
The biggest part of this whole thing is why people need green spaces and organic gardening. In recent years there has been large-scale public health crises in the form of obesity, depression, and prevalent nearsightedness. All of these things are associated with spending most of the time indoors. These findings have many scientists spending their time on researching how nature, or lack there of, affects the body. The overwhelming consensus is that time spent outdoors profoundly impacts people both mentally and physically. The University of Exeter Medical School did a study of 10,000 people living in urban areas. Their study showed that people living near green spaces show less signs of mental distress. There was another study conducted by Dutch researchers that found people that live within a half mile radius of a green spaces were less likely to have fifteen different diseases, which included anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and migraines. In 2015 a study was conducted in Toronto that showed a correlation between having a high number of trees on your block and having better heart and metabolic health. During this study researchers found that communities with more green spaces had a lower mortality rate and their citizens have fewer stress hormones circulating in the blood stream. The interesting thing is people do not even need to use the green spaces they simply need to be around them in order to get these benefits.
When people are around nature their brains starts to function faster and more efficiently. What people fail to realize is that their brains are not tireless machines. They get rundown, cluttered, and fatigued. Being in and around nature helps people to pause and take a moment. This helps to improve mental performance, while giving the sense of restoration. For example, Cornell University did a study that shows that the human brain is 50 percent better at creative problem solving after spending time outdoors. The reason this works is because the prefrontal cortex, otherwise known as the brain’s command center is able to rest and recoup. In other words, it acts like an over used muscle.
So people obviously need time out doors well then why specifically do people need organic gardening? Well there are many benefits to organic gardening. It gets people outside, which is number one. Just being in the garden will provide the same benefits that green spaces do, but there is so much more. One health benefit is that organic gardening provides people with a hearty workout and its a regimen that they have to stick to. The reason that they must stay with it is because of the upkeep that is involved with an organic garden. For those who don’t have the time to garden organically, eating organically is highly recommended.
Eating organically means that the people who have produced the food have eliminated the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. That being said this provides a ton of health benefits. Chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers have been linked to a long list of health problems, which include breast cancer, damaged brain function, birth defects, Parkinson’s, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, miscarriages, prostate cancer, infertility, childhood leukaemia, autism, and much, much more.
Besides decreasing the risks of those health issues by eating organically people optimize their diets. Eating organically increases the amount of Vitamin D that the average person consumes, while reducing stress. When there are less chemicals in the human body it does a better job of processing hormones that are produced when stressed. When people eat organically they are actually consuming more good bacteria. The fertilizers and herbicides that are traditionally used in gardens kill almost all bacteria in the surrounding area, this includes all of the good bacteria as well. Some of these good bacterias act as a natural antidepressant. Who would not want that added benefit to their food?
When taking part in organic gardening the process of healing takes place for both people and the earth. Conventional gardening causes a rise in the toxicity levels in ground water. When people take the time and do organic gardening the correct way not only do the toxicity levels not go up, but they actually go down. The presence of a root system that is not contaminated by pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides help to purify the groundwater that runs beneath it. The lack of pesticides helps to keep the good bugs around. When organic gardening is taking place over conventional gardening, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are able to grow in number which helps the ecosystem. Another way that the ecosystem is impacted is through helping animals within it stay alive. There is now scientific proof that pesticides are linked to 67 million birds and 14 million fish dying every year.
So knowing that organic gardens and green spaces benefit both the earth and humans now they have to figure out how to incorporate it into their daily lives. When people are around nature mental performance increases. Notice the word around. People do not have to drive thirty minutes from their homes and go walk in a park for a while to get these results. They just have to be around it. There are simple ways that cities and individual homes can incorporate nature into their inhabitants’ every day lives.The thought that urban areas need to introduce more nature into their environment is not new. Almost 2,500 years ago Cyrus the Great had gardens built for relaxation in the bustling capital of Persia.
There are currently 26 countries that are using green spaces as a way to improve health on a national level. Finland has extremely high rates of depression, alcoholism, and suicide. In order to combat this the government in Finland has funded the instillation of green spaces within their urban areas. One of type of green space that has been put in is a “power trail.” These trails encourage walking, mindfulness and reflection. They encourage these things by having signs along the trail that say things such as “squat down and touch a plant.”
Another country that has been putting green spaces first is South Korea. South Korea citizens are known to have high stress levels. This is because many of them suffer from work stress, intense academic pressures, and digital addiction. Over 70 percent of the country’s adult population say that their job makes them depressed. The one thing that has seemed to keep with country okay mentally is their history of worshiping nature spirits. A popular, ancient proverb within the country goes “Shin to bul ee—Body and soil are one.” Throughout the country citizens are able to enjoy healing forests. There are people who work within these forests called health rangers. They will actually lead hikes though the forests and provide elm bark tea to those who want it. At the end of the hikes a variety of activity takes place. Some people will practice yoga while others work on delicate dried flower collages. As of 2017, there are more than 34 of these forests throughout South Korea. The popularity of these forests have grown so much that there is now a forest healing degree at Chungbuk University. For students that earn this degree prospects are good. The service plans on adding 500 heath rangers to the force within the next couple of years.
Another way that cities are incorporating green spaces is through covering rooftops with vegetation. This is very popular in Amsterdam. Having the more greenery in the city scape still provides the positive benefits of green spaces, but rooftop vegetation does much more. When greenery is placed in large quantities that close to the city, the plants provide a way to combat pollution. Carbon emissions from cars are used in the plants’ photosynthesis process, thus cleaning the air. Another benefit is roofing costs. When rooftop vegetation is installed there is a larger cost upfront when compared to traditional rooftops. Over time they pay for themselves. Traditional roofing has to be repaired or replaced every ten to fifteen years. Rooftop vegetation only has to be replaced every 80 to 100 years. It will have to be weeded every six months, so there is a tad more up keep to this roofing style. Another benefit to rooftop vegetation is that it helps to keep buildings cooler. Buildings who have rooftop vegetation spend 40 percent less on the cost of air conditioning annually.
The uses of green spaces and organic gardening are of the upmost importance for the health of humanity. Those who live in urban settings will benefit most when green spaces and organic gardens are installed and used correctly. From battling anxiety and obesity to lowering the risk of breast and prostate cancer the answer all lies in getting out of the normal routine and getting outside. There are so many health benefits that it would be extremely shortsighted not to take advantage of them. Research has proven that both green spaces and organic gardens have benefits beyond health of humans, they both improve the health of the earth itself. Making the earth healthier will help generations to come. There is little to no negative impacts of green spaces and organic gardening, so why would people not take advantage of them? It is up to everyone to motivate themselves and encourage others around them to step outside and literally smell the roses. It will do much more for people than they think.