The Benefits of Nature in an Urban Area
If you are a student at Havergal, you likely live in an urban area. Toronto and most of the GTA is filled with concrete buildings, bustling sidewalks, and congested roads. It is quite difficult to find a time and place to spend in nature when you live in the city. Despite the many benefits of spending time in green space, many people find themselves cooped up in buildings or spending their recreational time on technology indoors. Walking around Younge and Eglinton, you may notice a tree planted here or there to make the streets more aesthetically pleasing but walking by one tree doesn’t have the same effect as visiting a park or urban forest.
Green spaces have been scientifically proven to boost mental health and help prevent mental illness, especially depression. Dr. Mathew White, an environmental psychologist at the University of Exeter, revealed that increased urbanization and decreasing levels of mental health appear concurrently. Similarly, as the amount of green space in an area increases, your mental health improves. There are both long term and short term effects of visiting green spaces. Watching a bird fly overhead or hearing the sound of leaves rustling in the wind may bring you a few minutes of peace. In the long term, studies have shown that exposure to green spaces leads to a 15 - 55 % decrease in your likelihood to develop mental health conditions (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/does-exposure-green-spaces-childhood-lead-better-mental-health-180971590/). While studying the habits of 12,000 people over 18 years, Dr. Matthew White discovered that, if you live near a green space, your satisfaction in life is much higher. Considering all humans have an instinctual drive to live a happy and satisfying life, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to dedicate more of the city to green space. I’m not saying living near green space will solve all mental health issues, but it can help you feel better if you’re feeling upset or stressed.
Green spaces have a large effect on your physical health and wellness. To some, the thought of running on a treadmill or lifting weights in a sweaty, artificially lit, and overcrowded room may be a nightmare. If you are not a fan of the gym, living near green space can offer a nice alternative that doesn’t involve overused equipment or a huge time commitment. Parks and trails make great places to go for a jog, bike ride, or just a quick five-minute walk. Studies find that people who live within 800 metres of a park get 50% of their physical exercise there. Green spaces also reduce rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease. Trees and plants lower levels of air pollution, which is not only good for the environment but the body as well. (https://davidsuzuki.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/impact-green-space-heat-air-pollution-urban-communities.pdf). Trees act as great filters for removing pollution from the air. When converting carbon dioxide to oxygen, they remove many pollutants
from the air and produce clean oxygen. Breathing in polluted air can have a large negative effect on your overall health in the long term. Acute air pollution can cause an array of illnesses that can be fatal. By visiting a green space , you can have fun while also improving your overall health and fitness!
As our world progresses further into an age of technology and urbanization, green space must be a big part of that future as well. Climate change is becoming more and more of a threat to the earth and its inhabitants every day, and green space can help battle against the negative effects of climate change and maybe stop our impending extinction. Have you ever noticed that the temperature always seems to be a few degrees hotter in the city and cooler up north in more rural areas? Well, that's all due to something called the “Urban Island Heat Effect”. Pavement and concrete traps heat which results in higher temperatures, and in areas with a lot of pavement like Toronto, the effects can be large. The “Urban Island Heat Effect” results in higher energy consumption as more people need to use air conditioning, resulting in increased air pollutants and greenhouse gases, impaired water quality, and compromised human health. Replacing concrete with nature can help lower temperatures significantly and reduce our contribution to global warming and climate change.
In conclusion, green space provides mental, physical, and environmental benefits. I encourage you to spend more time in any green space around you. Toronto has many designated green space areas such as Edward’s Gardens, Evergreen Brickworks, and countless parks. At Havergal, we are lucky enough to have our very own trail. So if you’re ever feeling stressed about school or whatever pressure of life you are facing at the time, take advantage of the nature we have just a few steps away from school. Go out there, find a quiet spot, and just take in your surroundings.