Green is the Color of Wellness

by Radhika Ramesh, graduate intern, bWell International

What is the color of wellness? I say Green. Because green symbolizes the natural world. Because green stands for fertility, growth and prosperity. Because it also stands for money. Because green is the color of life.

And the Earth is rather brown-grey at the moment. Sooty fumes and emissions from our cigarettes, vehicles, factories, satellites, and airplanes, together with chemicals, aerosols and particulate matter have resulted in large scale pollution, ozone depletion and global warming. Even if you don't believe Al Gore, it is hard to miss the tell-tale signs of trouble: declining biodiversity, devastating floods in Malaysia, earthquakes in China, landslides in Pakistan, droughts in Kenya and wildfires in Portugal. The symptoms of a very sick Earth. An Earth that is neither well nor green.

Sometime in the mid-twentieth century, the growing awareness that human beings were wrecking the environment and the recognition of the magnitude and implications of this damage led to the modern environmental movement and the race to restore order to our ecosystem. Thus, Greening of the Earth is about more than just a pretty, green landscape. Greening is renewal and revitalization. Greening is a call for a well Earth. It is also a necessity for well Earthlings.

In his book, Beyond the Land Ethic (1999), J. Baird Callicott, who taught the world's first course in environmental ethics, asserts that the Wellness movement in America is ancillary to the environmental movement. How else could it be? World War II left behind a legacy of new generation pesticides, heavy duty combustion engines, the miracle of atomic fusion and a booming cigarette demand that blanketed America in a heavy, grey smog. While the Environmental movement sprang up to attempt to undo the damage done to the Earth, the Wellness movement arose to try to undo the damage done to people. For how can we be healthy if the Earth is miserable?

The National Wellness Institute, one of the oldest wellness organizations in the United States, has developed the Six Dimensional Model of Wellness that emphasizes the social and environmental aspects of wellness, in addition to the physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and occupational dimensions. The interrelatedness of these different dimensions is apparent. How can you be emotionally well if your career is not satisfying? How can you expand your intellectual curiosity if you have a nagging pain in your stomach all the time? How can you feel happy and content when you are constantly under attack by fumes from vehicles, cigarettes and burning tires? How can you be disease-free if your neighborhood is built on a toxic dump? How can you be healthy if the Earth is not? How can Greenness and Wellness be any different? How can America be the health capital of the world if it is also not the environmental capital?

The United States is the highest consumer of fossil-fuel energy in the world. The combustion of fossil-fuels, which are a non-renewable energy source, is known to result in ecologically destructive outcomes. A report outlined by the National Research Council (NRC) notes that each year, 76 million gallons of petroleum seep into North America's oceans. Apart from large scale oil-spills and accidents in transport, human caused releases from cars, trucks, personal watercraft, urban street runoff, improper disposal of petroleum products and other sources contribute to the oil in our oceans. The damage to our ecosystem is often irreparable. Furthermore, a study by the University of Cincinnati shows that more than 30% of American public schools are within 400 meters of major highways and thus in close proximity to environmental pollutants and susceptible to respiratory diseases. But there is more. A report from the American Lung Association claims that around 137 million Americans breathe unhealthy amounts of smog. While the Earth chokes, so do we.

Over the past decade or so, the definition of wellness has changed from the narrow concept of absence of pain to being proactive about health and prevention. The modern wellness movement has taught us that the absence of illness is hardly a health goal and empowered us to take charge of our health and lifestyle. As the connection between individual well-being and environmental context becomes clearer, we need to be proactive about our planet as well, and act when we still have the time.

Awareness of this direct correlation between the social milieu and the ecological milieu also brings with it an understanding of the importance of preserving the beauty and balance of nature and of building a living space in harmony with our environment. We are but one of the many components of this ecosystem which need to function co-operatively to co-exist. We need to respect the earth's limits and think in terms of sustainable products and systems. Because a healthy earth means a healthy us.

Because Wellness is Green.