Living Near Trees Makes You Feel Richer

Yeah, you read that title right. I'm not pulling your leg, it isn't April Fools, and I've had my daily dose of caffeine. I had the same reaction to reading the article that brought this to my attention. A study conducted by University of Chicago based researcher Omid Kardan found that having as few as ten extra trees on a city block could increase people's happiness the same way as a $10,000 raise or deaging seven years. The study was conducted mostly in Canada (Toronto and Ontario, to be exact). A number that doesn't include half of my childhood or enough money to cut my student loans in half is an easy 1%- that's how much of an increase in happiness ten trees added to the group researched. 

But this isn't a matter of putting a dozen new parks in. The study found that the more contact people have with the trees, the happier they are. This means that trees that line the street cause more of an increase in overall happiness than the trees in a park. People normally don't walk through parks, unless it's on a route they normally take. This also isn't a small group of people that were studied- over 30,000 people took part.

The benefits go beyond just mental health. The study also found people's cardio health was increased. This is both because of the air quality increase from the trees, as well as the fact that people who live near trees tend to exercise more.

To read more about why trees are awesome, check out this article on treepeople.