There's a lot of talk about how the environment can impact your health. Human activity, such as consumption and energy usage, has been detrimental to the atmosphere, but it also releases pollutants and chemicals into the air people breathe. Humans are increasingly working to change habits to help clean up the environment. While you may be eager to see big companies adopt new and better processes, did you know your health also has an impact on the environment? The more healthy you are, the better your impact is likely to be on the environment.

Medications Impact the Environment

Medications people consume can also impact the environment. The chemicals in the medications can taint surface waters during manufacture, then when they leave the body, small amounts of chemicals can still be traced when they re-enter the water supply. If you're healthy, you don't need medications. Many health issues can be treated with natural remedies, such as hormone balance supplements. 

Your Diet Impacts the Environment

What you eat has a direct impact on the environment. The more healthy your diet is, the more positive your impact will be. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains is especially good for you and the environment. Cutting back on meats also impacts the environment. Animals that are raised as food sources take up large tracts of land that require deforestation. They also release large quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. A single cow can belch 228 pounds of methane gas into the atmosphere each year.

Growing Your Own Food

There is no doubt your health is improved dramatically when you consume fresh food. That's because you are consuming fewer sugars, salts, and fats that are used to make processed foods more pleasing to your taste buds. The more fresh food you consume over processed foods also reduces emissions that are produced during manufacture, and produced again when food ends up in landfills. If you consider the packaging that also ends up in landfills, the benefits and impacts of growing your own foods becomes even more substantial.

You Spend More Time Outdoors

Healthy people generally spend more time outdoors getting exercise. When people spend time outdoors, they are more likely to respect nature. This makes them less likely to taint the environment with litter. People are naturally drawn to the outdoors, yet every decade they spend more time sitting on the couch. When you spend more time indoors, you become more disconnected with nature.

What Can You Do?

Changing your daily habits isn't easy, but it also isn't impossible. There are numerous changes you can make to ensure that while you maintain your health, you also maintain the health of the environment.

Get out daily and enjoy the outdoors. When you connect with nature, you're more likely to see areas where nature could benefit with your help. This might be by organizing a walking group that also collects litter, or sponsoring trees that help keep the air clean. 

Plant your own foods. When you grow your own vegetables, you know they are free of pesticides and other chemicals. You also contribute to reduced burning of fossil fuels that are needed to transport foods over long distances to reach your local markets. 

Stay fit so you are less prone to health issues that require the use of medications that end up in water supplies. Humans and animals can become exposed to the chemicals which can impact health. 

Eat less meat, especially red meat. You don't need meat for every meal, and you don't even need it every day. Switch to a diet that is more rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains. 

Conclusion

Maintaining your health doesn't only benefit you. It benefits everyone. When you are more mindful of nature and the environment, you are more likely to care for it and adopt socially responsible habits that help protect it.