Caring for the environment shapes the way we live, breathe, and feel every day. The quality of the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the spaces you move through all influence your well-being, and the choices you make affect the health of the planet in return.
This interconnected relationship is at the core of environmental wellness, which is all about making thoughtful choices in how we treat our surroundings and staying aware of the way those surroundings shape our daily lives.
What Is Environmental Wellness?
Environmental wellness comes down to recognizing that our health and the health of the planet are closely linked. The way we treat our surroundings affects how we feel both physically and emotionally. When the air is dirty or the water isn’t safe, it erodes our well-being.
A study in the United Kingdom proved exactly that. People living in greener urban areas were much happier and experienced less stress than those in heavily built-up, polluted neighborhoods. Researchers even noted that the mental health benefits of living near green spaces were comparable to the boost people feel when moving to a better job or earning a higher income.
Although we may not always be able to choose where we live or how green our surroundings are, we can still make everyday choices that support environmental wellness. We can recycle, reuse what we already have, and find ways to cut down on waste to make a difference.
It also means staying mindful of how our actions affect others, whether that’s choosing not to smoke in public or avoiding products that create unnecessary pollution.
Why Is Environmental Wellness Important?
Clean air, safe drinking water, and unpolluted soil are basic foundations of health, yet most of us take them for granted, despite the fact that 1 in 4 people, or about 2.1 billion people worldwide, still lack access to safely managed drinking water. Of those, an estimated 63 million are in the United States, where reports have shown that nearly one-fifth of the population is exposed to unsafe drinking water. This should remind us that clean air, water, and soil are never guaranteed, and the lack of them is closer to home than we realize.
Environmental wellness is also shaped by the quality of our surroundings, since constant noise, and overcrowded spaces can raise stress levels, weaken our immune systems, and make daily life more draining. It becomes a cycle where the state of our environment influences our health, and our choices in turn shape the environment we all depend on.
How to Improve Environmental Wellness
Caring for the environment—and by extension, for ourselves—comes down to the daily habits that, when repeated over time, make a real difference. Here are three steps you can take to reduce your footprint and build healthier surroundings for everyone:
Recycle as Much as You Can
Recycling is one of the easiest ways to reduce waste, but it works best when it becomes part of your daily routine. A simple step is to keep a recycling bin next to your trash can so you always have a clear choice about where things should go. It also helps to check your town or city’s recycling guidelines, since rules about what can and can’t be collected curbside vary from state to state.
Some items that end up in the bin don’t actually belong there, such as plastic wraps, bags, styrofoam containers, or most types of e-waste. Other everyday items, such as cardboard pizza boxes, can usually be recycled as long as they’re free from leftover food or grease.
It’s not complicated, but it does require us to be informed about what can and can’t be recycled, and where certain items should be dropped off instead of tossed in the curbside bin.
Conserve Energy
Another thing many of us don’t pay enough attention to is saving energy around the house. Something as simple as turning off lights when you leave a room can add up over time. For example, a 40-watt bulb left on for one hour uses about 0.04 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, which might sound small, but when you multiply it by one million households leaving just one light on, it adds up to 40,000 kWh in a single hour. That’s enough energy to power thousands of homes for a day, all from lights we didn’t actually need.
Reuse Whenever Possible
Finding ways to reuse the things we want to throw away has a bigger impact than you might think, and that’s exactly what upcycling is all about. It turns what would have been waste into something useful again, and keeps materials in circulation instead of sending them straight to a landfill. Upcycling shifts the way we look at the stuff we already have and makes us realize that most of it still carries value. When we reuse and repurpose, we reduce demand for new products, save resources, and take some pressure off the planet.
How We Make a Difference
At Sourgum, we do everything we can to reduce our impact on the world and help our customers do the same. We incorporate sustainability into every part of our business model. Whether it’s working with companies to reduce their carbon footprint, designing systems that cut down on unnecessary trips and fuel use, or making sure materials from job sites are handled responsibly, the focus is always on reducing waste.
We also partner with One Tree Planted, so every time one of our dumpsters is rented, a tree is planted in a an area affected by deforestation. It’s one small way we give back and ensure that the work we do today contributes to a healthier planet tomorrow.
