The most recent Happy Planet Index (HPI) survey conducted by the New Economics Foundation, the United States ranked 114th out of 143 countries surveyed.
A country’s ranking on this index is determined by three factors: life satisfaction, life expectancy, and ecological footprint. So if the United States is 114th, who made the top of the list? Costa Rica.
Costa Ricans are reported to have the highest level of life satisfaction on the planet, have a higher life expectancy than the US, and live sustainably enough that they only need one planet to maintain their lifestyle. In fact, Latin American countries make up 9 out of the top 10 contenders in the HPI.
It’s no surprise that the US is low rating for ecological footprint, however our reported self-satisfaction didn’t hit near the top of the list either. We are outranked by many smaller and less wealthy countries. The only thing we really had going for us was high life expectancy.
I learned last semester in Environmental Sustainability that happiness in the US hit a plateau in the 1950’s. What could be the reason for this? While we have more technology and luxuries, we are also working harder than ever. We work and work so that we can attempt keep up with the latest products, only to then get introduced to yet another new product. These things give us a temporary high, but they don’t make us satisfied. All of this consumption, this desire to have the newest, the biggest and the best, makes for one unsustainable and unsatisfying lifestyle.
Most Costa Ricans live less extravagantly than we do. However, maybe they have their priorities straight. If they can live comfortably with less, and be even happier than us, then they are doing something right. Yes, they have a warmer climate, and are surrounded by beautiful natural areas seeminlgy out of Jurassic Park, but it has to be more than just their environment that contributes to their happiness; it’s their whole lifestyle. I think that the countries that ranked higher on life satisfaction than us live a simpler lifestyle, and spend more free time with family and friends as opposed to spending extra time at the office to become more wealthy, only to plop down on the couch at the end of the day exhausted and unable to do anything except be idle in front of the television.
There are simple everyday choices we can make in order to make our lifestyles a little simpler, and in turn reduce our ecological footprint. At the end of the day, these minor changes may even make you a little bit happier.
-Katie Durkin
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