By Ben Mills
How it got its title is no secret. Copenhagen, or Københaven in the native language, is famous for its picturesque parks and gorgeous gardens, its passion for cycling and its commitment to becoming a carbon dioxide free city by 2025. Yes, it seems the Danes are pretty obsessed with the idea of being eco - friendly. But maybe a healthy environment is not all the Danes are doing all this for.
How it got its title is no secret. Copenhagen, or Københaven in the native language, is famous for its picturesque parks and gorgeous gardens, its passion for cycling and its commitment to becoming a carbon dioxide free city by 2025. Yes, it seems the Danes are pretty obsessed with the idea of being eco - friendly. But maybe a healthy environment is not all the Danes are doing all this for.
Most cities would be pretty pleased with an accolade like being the greenest city on a continent, and the reputation is clearly doing wonders for the Danish tourism industry; 46% of all tourism in Scandinavia in 2014 was in Denmark. But this is not the only title Denmark, and indeed Copenhagen itself, has to be proud of. Since the introduction of the United Nations World Happiness Report in 2012, the country has consistently ranked in the top 5 of the world’s happiest countries, currently coming in at number 2, just behind Norway (well done Scandinavia!). According to Meik Wiking of the Happiness Research Institute, there are many reasons why Danish people are so happy, from the ideas of family, community and togetherness, to the massive benefits of the state’s welfare system.
But it is hard to ignore the tantalising link between both of Denmark’s claims to greatness, of the claim to be both the happiest country in the world and to have the greenest city in Europe. The connection, it seems, is no coincidence.
Research suggests there is a strong relationship between happiness and a green and healthy environment. So maybe the Danes know that they’re eco - friendly attitude to life is contributing to their creation of their happy, almost utopian society. Maybe that’s why they persist with their cycling, their trees and their lowering of carbon dioxide emissions.
In the UK, however, it’s a different picture.
Unlike our friends over the North Sea, with regards to the environment, levels of air pollution in London broke the annual legal limit within the first 5 days of 2017, and with regards to our happiness, we’re 19th in the world - not too bad, but it could be better. Clearly, something needs to change. Clearly, we need to adopt the Danish way of life here, in the UK.
At first, this may seem more difficult than it sounds. After all, we can’t all just pick up some gardening tools, storm into Newcastle city centre, dig up the street and plant a load of trees. Unless the government, both local and national, decides to change something, it seems there may not be any significant changes to our environment, and therefore, our happiness levels will stagnate or decrease, right?
Wrong. The Danes’ sense of community is integral to its happiness, but they also find it important for individuals to play their own part to cultivate their positive emotions and good health. This is the key thing that we need to adopt into the British way of life, and adapt to also. Too often in the UK we rely on governments and organisations to make the changes that are needed to make a positive change to our life and our wellbeing. Instead, why not take matters into our own hands, as we cannot live happily under rules of what we should and shouldn’t do? It doesn’t take much to bring a little more of the outdoors and nature to our own lives and even by doing this we can really make a difference. Here are some seriously simple ways on how to improve your happiness through the environment:
1. Walk or cycle - We are told all the time about this simple way to reduce our carbon footprint - it almost seems overused. But as proven in Copenhagen, where there are more bikes on the road than cars, it does actually work, and has an impact on not just our environment but our happiness and health too. Cramlington is lucky to have a large network of cycle paths - make use of them. Cycle or walk to school, keeping track of how many miles you’ve progressed using the handy signs along the cycle paths.
2. Buy a houseplant - It might sound a little fanciful that an action as small as this may have any sort of big impact on your emotional health, but a recent study by a group of Dutch scientists has concluded that even looking at pictures of trees and greenery can significantly lower stress levels. So bringing even just this tiny bit of nature into your house will improve your happiness by miles. You can buy a huge range of houseplants cheaply from most supermarkets or your local garden centre.
3. Get outdoors - In the north-east, we are lucky enough to have our fair share of stunning outdoor spaces, from the close-by areas of Northumberlandia and Plessey Woods to those further afield like Kielder and Hadrian’s Wall. Make the most of them. Instead of spending the weekend scrolling through the relentless feeds of Snapchat or other social media sites, get outside, and it will do wonders for your emotional wellbeing.
4. Look after our planet - It’s not only that Copenhagen isn’t short on shrubbery that make its citizens so happy - their city, from the streets to the air, is clean. Little litter, little pollution. Let’s make our environment as hospitable as theirs. Recycle. Don’t litter. Don’t pollute. Help improve our surroundings to help improve your happiness.
So there you have it. Four really easy ways to improve your emotional health by embracing our environment and the greenery within it. Because let’s face it, a walk through Cramlington, Newcastle or indeed any town or city in the UK isn’t like a walk through Copenhagen. The streets aren’t as green or clean, and their inhabitants certainly aren’t as happy. But let’s change that. Let’s make 2018 the year of’ Appreciating Our Surroundings To Improve Our Emotional Health’ (OK, we can work on the name), and very soon we’ll all be as happy as the Danes.
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