What is your own experience with green spaces? Have they impacted you in a negative or positive way? Have they improved your well-being?
To be honest, I do not like green spaces, especially in comparison to the rest of Earth Lodge. I do not like bugs. I do not like humidity, or when it’s too hot or too cold. I do not like trail running, or really any kind of outdoor exercise; I am more of a gym rat. I am a typical, addicted-to-my-phone millennial who cannot survive without wifi. So why am I writing an essay about why green spaces and being outdoors are important? Because even though I do not always love them, other people do, and the greenery is incredible beneficial to its surroundings. I give respect to their importance and contribution to surrounding life, but no more, no less.
I did not always prefer the comfort of an airconditioned cozy indoor setting to “the great outdoors.” When I was little, I loved climbing trees and going for runs in our local park. But now, when I think about climbing a tree, all I see are the spiders and ants and creepy crawly critters. I don’t run at all, not even on a treadmill. It isn’t that I hate everything about the outdoors and green spaces. I had a great time in Oregon at the H.J Andrew’s Forest. It was calming, kind of meditative, but I could not take a job there or live in a cabin in the woods for the rest of my life, no matter how cool and rustic. I also love to look at stars and sunsets, and my family makes s’mores in our fire pit when my older sister and I are home on breaks. It is not that I do not have great fun in green spaces anymore. It is just that I am, for the most part, indifferent.
Studies have been done on green spaces, and I read a lot about the impact that they have on mental health. Symptoms of ADD in children can be reduced through activities in green spaces. They also help children develop cognitive, emotional, and behavioral connections. Mental health improves in those who move to areas with more green spaces, and continues to be better for years after they moved. Green spaces have even been linked to reduced stress and muscle tension, enhanced mood, improved attention, and reduced anger and aggression. Why is this relevant? UR’s campus is full of green spaces, and full of stressed students just trying to pay attention in their classes to pass their tests and learn a little bit. The green spaces are beautiful, and are a real crowd pleaser for prospective students coming on tours, but according to the studies, they serve a greater purpose. Just walking by one, the Westhampton Green outside our dorm, for example, can help improve mental health. Even though I don’t spend exorbitant amounts of time outside, I still reap the benefits of green spaces on campus.
Green spaces are also crucial to help the surrounding environment. We learned in class about how a buffer zone of vegetation is recommended on both sides of a river or stream. Environmentalists say that it helps to shade the river, provide habitat, regulate soil erosion, and filters pollutants and groundwater before it reaches the river. In addition, green spaces remove pollutants from the air, regulate the air temperature and increase rainfall retention. This is significant because without green spaces, the rest of the ecosystem would suffer. For example, animals would be left without a home and the nearby waterways would not have a natural groundwater filter in place. Heera talks in her post about her experience participating in a protest for protecting land from the Dakota Access Pipeline. I agree with those protestors – land and green spaces should be protected to save the environment, even if I’m not a huge fan of them. At risk of sounding like a broken record, green spaces are critical to a thriving environment. This doesn’t mean I want to do a 180 and be outside all the time, but the information I found makes me less indifferent to the green spaces around me.
Green spaces are loved by Earth Lodgers and others alike. I would venture so far as to say that I love them too. Or at least, I admire them from afar. I appreciate the positive impact they have on my peers and myself, even if it is just in passing. I appreciate that they keep the world going around by how they benefit ecosystems. Writing this essay and doing a little bit of extra research makes it hard to say that I hate green spaces. Although you will still not find me lying in the Westhampton Green or the quad for hours on end, I will speak of them more fondly. To be honest, I suppose that I actually do like green spaces.