Sometimes I feel like the Environment quadrant is the ugly stepchild of the four quadrants. When I'm talking about the four quadrants, people seem the least interested in the Environment in the context of health. It's not as much in our awareness when we think of healthy living. Each week, I blog about one of the four quadrants so that each one is covered in a month. This week, it's time to feature the Environment. Rather than focus on something specific related to the environment like I usually do, this blog is about giving a general shout-out to it and bringing it into the spotlight. Today, the Environment is the belle of the ball.

Of the four quadrants, the environment is the one that people think least relates to their own health. There is a lot of focus on the Body quadrant as it relates to health—nutrition, exercise, sleep. There is a fair amount of focus on the Mind quadrant and its connection to health in the form of stress management. Although we may not think about Relationships in terms of our connection to health, we get it. When we spend time with toxic people, we don't feel good. In contrast, the Environment is seen as somehow separate from us. It is viewed as external rather than internal. But the truth is, we are intimately connected to our environment. If we keep the environment healthy, we keep ourselves healthy.

According to the World Health Organization, 25% of health problems are caused by environmental factors. Toxins in the environment have been linked to numerous diseases and health conditions, including asthma, allergies, premature birth, learning disabilities, early puberty, diabetes, reduced fertility, and even many cancers.

Environmental factors that affect our health can be found everywhere—both indoors and outdoors, as well as at work and at home. We ingest the toxins in many ways—through our skin, nose, mouth, and ears. This includes polluted air and water, excessive noise, radiation, hazardous wastes, chemical-filled cleaning products, pesticides, and food and food container contaminants. Some we have control over and some we don’t, but the idea is to lower our toxic load where we can— to do our best to make our environment healthy so that we can be healthy.

According to the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups, scientists have found more than 100 potentially dangerous industrial chemicals and pollutants in the body of the average American. Read that sentence again. That's scary. Many of the chemicals used in products are introduced into our society and are only later realized to be harmful to our health. Unintentionally, we are the guinea pigs for these chemicals, and the price is high. For example, DDT and PCBs, once used abundantly, were banned in the 1970s when it was recognized how harmful they were. What chemical that is commonly used today will we find out in the future is actually toxic to our health?

I think about the Environment quadrant in connection with health in a variety of contexts. For example, I think about it in terms of cleaning up my personal environment which includes using green cleaning products in my home, using air purifiers to clean the air, removing shoes to keep toxins out, and gardening organically to keep chemicals out of my yard. I also think about it in terms of cleaning up the larger environment which includes reducing my use of plastic bottles, carrying my own reusable shopping bags, stopping catalogs, being kind to wildlife, and using less energy. In addition to greening my personal and expanded environments, I also think about the Environment in terms of the solace and peace it provides me. Creating my home as a safe and clean sanctuary is not only good for my physical health, but also my mental health. Being out in nature is also good for my health. Studies show that even just five minutes of exercising outdoors can be beneficial to us—increasing our self-esteem, improving mood, and decreasing anxiety. There are many ways that our health is intertwined with our environment.

if you are ready to dance with the belle of the ball instead of ignoring the ugly stepchild, here are some ideas from past blogs and the Four Quadrant Living website to help you create an environment that can promote your health. You can just read through the list as a reminder or click on the links if you want more detail.

• Environment Topics - reduce, reuse, recycle, stop catalogs, clean green, properly dispose of toxic waste, use less energy and water, walk or bike instead, say no to plastic, save lives (adopt & spay), travel lightly, simply be (in nature)
• Plastic At Home, Really? - say no to plastic, use cloth instead of paper napkins, be creative with gift wrap, print on both sides
• Shoeless Sanctuary - leave shoes at the door, clean green, avoid non-stick cookware, remodel green, set bugs free, get an air cleaner, garden organically
• Don't Judge A Weed - garden organically
• Free Space, Free Mind - remove clutter (a decluttered environment makes for a decluttered mind)
• Frying the Birds - be kind to wildlife
• My Love Affair with a Mountain, Peace by Nature - find solace (and health) in nature

What changes can you make in the Environment quadrant to promote your overall health?
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Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Hanukkah. Christmas. New Year’s Eve. The holiday madness begins in November and lasts through the New Year. I'm not a holiday grinch, but I cringe at the waste that comes from the holiday season every year. From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste in the U.S. increases by more than 25%. The waste comes in the form of food, shopping bags, holiday cards, packaging, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and more. This adds up to an additional one million tons a week to our landfills during this time (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

Think about the bags of trash you end up with at the end of the night after opening gifts. Trash bags are piled high with ribbon, paper, and packaging—much of it which is not recyclable. This trash sits in landfill for hundreds of years before it decomposes. Give a gift to the environment this holiday season and reduce waste. Here are some ideas.

• Reduce the number of holiday cards you send. Did you know that the 2.65 billion holiday cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high? If we each send one card less, we'd save 50,000 cubic yards of paper (The Use Less Stuff Report). How about sending electronic cards or posting a holiday video to your friends on YouTube? For paper or photo cards, think about just sending to those friends and family who are out-of-town that you do not see as often. This will save you both time and money. I stopped sending holiday cards a few years ago and I don't miss that extra “to-do" around the holidays.

• Go potted or rent. Each year 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S., and of those, about 30 million go to landfill (The Use Less Stuff Report). Artificial trees can be reused, but are not ideal for the environment either. They are made of PVC (a harmful plastic), are typically shipped from outside the U.S. (consuming resources to get to their final destination), and are not recyclable or biodegradable. Instead, go for a potted tree that can be replanted after the holiday season. If you don't want to plant it in your yard, you can find another spot for it. The Original Christmas Tree Company has some ideas. There are also companies that rent trees, such as Rent a Living Christmas Tree.

• Go homemade. Give homemade gifts instead of packaged ones. The sentiment will last a lifetime. At my dad's house, we now give homemade gifts instead of bought ones. We have done this for the past four years. We draw names and make a gift for one person. I cherish the photo calendar my dad made me, the painted box with uplifting sayings my sister made me, the wood-carved wine holder my sister's boyfriend made me, and the decorated frames my stepmom gave me. I don't remember all of the other gifts I have gotten from them over the years, but I will always remember what they made for me.

• Give less. If you are not ready to give up gift giving entirely, how about drawing names and just buying for one person? This means less time in the mall and lower January credit card bills. For less packaging waste, good gift ideas are movie tickets, spa certificates, gift cards, or vouchers for an activity with you. Another great idea is to make a donation to an organization that has meaning for the person you are gifting. For me, it's not just about the money—it's about the time and pressure of gift giving. There is so much frenzy during the holiday season that is only exacerbated by the obligation of gift giving. Let's give ourselves a chance to enjoy the holiday season without putting so many demands on our time (and pocketbook).

• Spend time, not money. Create traditions that your family looks forward to over the holidays, reducing the importance of material items and increasing the importance of family time. Some of my favorite traditions are building ginger bread houses, cooking together, building puzzles, playing games, and driving through the neighborhood listening to holiday music, and seeing the holiday lights.

• Be creative with gift wrap. Try using newspapers, magazines, old calendars, or scarves to wrap presents. Choose wrapping paper with recycled content. Don't throw out the scraps. Use them and wrap a gift with several scrap pieces. Go light (or not at all) on the tissue paper. Instead of throwing out (or recycling) all of the tissue paper, boxes, and gift wrap, save it for next year. My sister and her boyfriend outdid themselves last year when they wrapped my gifts in fresh banana leaves that could be returned to nature after I opened my gifts.
  

• Forgo the ribbons and bows. If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet (The Use Less Stuff Report). It’s the gift inside that matters, not the packaging.

• Save energy. I enjoy the holiday lights as much as the next person but they do use a lot of energy. If you are in the market for new lights, buy LED ones which save energy.

• Pay it forward. My friends, Tracy and Vinny, have a holiday party every year where the price of admission is a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program which gives gifts to children in need. What a great way to get in the true spirit of reaching out to and helping others.
  

Okay, so maybe I am a bit of a holiday grinch—limited holiday cards, rented Christmas trees, and homemade gifts? I've made most of these changes over the years, and I have to say—the holidays are much less stressful (and more meaningful) for me than they used to be. I have time to enjoy the season and my family. I'm not running around like a crazy person making sure I have gifts for everyone, holiday cards filled out, and gifts wrapped. It's liberating.

On the other hand, I do enjoy getting into the holiday spirit with listening to the holiday music, seeing the lights, and receiving the photo cards and witty letters from my friends. Four Quadrant Living not about depriving ourselves of the things that bring us pleasure. Pleasure is a key component of our health. So, if there are certain items listed above that bring you joy during the holiday season, by all means, do them. Just do them mindfully, recognizing the impact on the health of the environment, those around you, and even yourself.

You don't have to make all of the changes, but is there one change for this holiday season that you can make as a gift to yourself, as well as to the environment?