Now that Chicago has decided to have a real spring instead of a fake summer, I’ve been reminded of some research I did last year for an article on the benefits of trees. Turns out trees aren’t just good for the environment; they’re also good for your health in all kinds of unexpected ways. For example, if you have regular exposure to a tree-rich environment, you’re more likely to:
- be satisfied with your job
- graduate from school
- have friendly relationships with your neighbors
And less likely to:
- Threaten violence against your children
- Experience crime in your neighborhood
This all blew my mind–especially the fact that it’s not just general green stuff (like grass) that produces these benefits; it’s specifically trees.
(“Anne,” you ask, “is this some hippy-dippy stuff you cut-and-pasted from a tree-hugger web site?” No, it’s not, son. It’s all straight from the research of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Landscape and Human Health Laboratory.)