Do you crave early afternoon hikes on a dirt path that curves through a thick, green forest with thousands of trees to entertain you for miles? 

Or do you find the “great” outdoors to be not so much that?

If that’s the case, it’s ok! Not everyone feels a connection to nature. But if you’ll indulge us for a moment, we’d like to tell you why spending even a little bit of time in nature can be good and how you can make it feel more, well, natural. Read on to learn how being in the natural world can improve your physical, emotional, and intellectual health.

Is Nature “Natural” to Everyone?

In 1984, a biologist named Edward O. Wilson built upon the work of psychoanalyst Eric Fromm and proposed the biophilia hypothesis.

In other words, everyone should feel a desire to be around varying forms of living nature such as plants and wildlife. But his hypothesis may be incorrect; researchers still dispute its validity. In particular, many researchers disagree with its claim that mankind’s attraction to nature is a universal trait.

Instead, researchers suggest that humans’ attraction to nature presents itself in the human population on a bell-curve distribution, meaning most people fall somewhere in the middle with a moderate appeal to nature, while a few carry an extreme love or hate for it. 

Your childhood experiences also influence the strength of your connection to nature. As a child, the conversations and activities relating to nature sparked or suppressed by your parents or guardians have the greatest influence on your relationship with nature. Other important figures in your life such as friends and teachers can also impact your connection, but those you live with have the strongest effect.

Additionally, contact with nature as a child matters, too. Contact with nature refers to visiting natural spaces like the wilderness or a park and interacting with nature like gardening. This factor influences your connection to nature significantly more than your childhood living environment, which includes elements like the amount of vegetation around your home or light visible outside at night.

More specifically, interactive contact with nature leads to a deeper connection than simply visiting natural spaces. Observing events in nature and nurturing plants are the two most influential childhood nature activities, highlighting the importance of meaning and emotion.

Nature Nurtures Us

Even if you fall on the part of the bell curve that does not enjoy nature or your childhood experiences did not foster an affinity for nature, it is still in your self-interest to care about it as an adult.

Physical Benefits

Nature has physical benefits. Forest bathing — an English term for the traditional Japanese practice of “shinrin-yoku” — is when you enjoy a forest through your senses: the smell of wildflowers, the sight of sunlight filtering through the tree canopy, the sound of the wind rustling branches, the tickle of a leaf brushing against your arm as it cascades down from above. Scientific studies have explored how this activity enhances your physical health by lowering your blood pressure. 

And even something as simple as breathing in the forest air can strengthen your immune system. Plants and trees release an airborne chemical called phytoncides to increase their protection from disease. When humans inhale phytoncides, they trigger an increase in the production of a type of white blood cell that works to rid the body of cells that have been damaged by viruses or tumors. 

Intellectual Benefits

Nature provides intellectual benefits, too. Two similar studies found that walking in different environments can impact your brain’s attention and memory capabilities. Students that walked in a nature-filled botanical garden experienced improved attention scores after their walk, while those that walked in an urban, pavement-filled area saw less improvement.

According to the attention restoration theory, our fast-paced and digital society requires a lot of energy and therefore drains our brain. Nature also captivates our attention, but it does so in a less demanding way than modern life. As a result, spending time in nature allows the brain to rest and reset to its full potential.

Emotional Benefits

Finally, nature is full of emotional benefits. Forest bathing can improve your mental health by reducing and preventing painful emotions such as psychological stress, anxiety, and depression. Forest bathing can lower cortisol levels, a hormone in the human body that increases when you are stressed. Additionally, a study found that forest bathing increased serotonin levels in middle-aged men, and low levels of this neurotransmitter are linked to depression and anxiety.

And spending time outside in nature can boost your mood. Whether you choose to go for a peaceful wooded hike in a forest or meander through a scenic park, spending time in nature can make you feel more positive and happy. It can also improve your sense of self-worth, such as enhancing your body image. 

Nature is full of unique creations, and observing them can instill a feeling of being a part of something bigger than just you. By doing so, you allow nature to turn on a calming nervous system response and unravel the tension brought on from our busy, technology-filled world.

Settle For Making Nature Feel Normal

Nature may never feel completely “natural” to you, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it and forgo nature’s gifts to your health! Over time, you can make spending time in nature feel normal by incorporating nature-related activities into your daily life.

EARTHDAY.ORG can help you do this. We’ve compiled 50 ways you can engage with nature routinely. The list includes actions that directly immerse you in nature like forest bathing and ones that indirectly immerse you in nature like educating yourself and others on how to help nature flourish. 

You can also normalize nature in your life by signing up for our email list so that articles like this are sent straight to your inbox. And you can explore our social media at X, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube to stay up to date on environmental news and information. Want to make a bigger impact? Donate to EARTHDAY.ORG and help fund our work year-round.

Taking these first steps will place you on a path towards incorporating nature into your daily life and becoming a healthier, more attentive, and happier person.

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As a member of the female community, I sometimes look at a closet full of clothes and still feel like I have nothing to wear. When I see a cute outfit online or in a store, I immediately picture myself wearing it. I imagine it for a party, a dinner, or a trip, and tell myself it will make me feel brand new, more confident, or simply more put-together. On hard days, I even justify it as a reward: “Life is not easy. I deserve one new thing.”

Most of the time, we are not buying clothes to solve a simple “missing item” problem. We buy to regulate emotion, signal identity and status, and feel ready for social situations. Fast fashion does not create those needs in the first place, but it makes satisfying them quick and easy by removing friction. With constant promotions, algorithmic recommendations, one click checkout, and easy returns, it becomes much harder to resist impulse buying.

From Identity to Anxiety

In consumer research, fashion is often described as symbolic consumption: people use clothing to signal identity, belonging, and social status. Even when casually browsing online, a consumer will make quick judgments about how a look might shape the way they are seen, such as more put-together, more professional, or more on-brand.

That is why aesthetics like “professional,” “clean girl,” and “old money” spread so fast. They work less like outfits and more like identity shortcuts. Brand visibility can also function as a status signal. Fast fashion intensifies both dynamics by making identity updates cheap, fast, and endlessly replaceable. When a look goes viral, brands copy it quickly and sell it at low prices, encouraging trend-chasing over long-wear quality. What looks like “more choice” often becomes pressure to keep updating, fueling identity anxiety and higher-frequency buying.

From Stress to Checkout

Many people buy clothes not only out of need, but to regulate emotion. In consumer psychology this is often discussed as emotion-regulation or compensatory consumption: when people feel stressed or powerless, a purchase can briefly restore a sense of control. Fast fashion exploits that quick relief and turns it into a repeatable habit.

Shopping is also driven by anticipation. When something looks like it will make a person feel better, the brain’s reward system can respond with a release of dopamine, strengthening the urge to act. Fast fashion keeps that loop running by removing friction. Low prices, limited-time deals, personalized recommendations, and one-click checkout shrink the pause for second thoughts. Mini-rewards like confirmation screens, shipping updates, and unboxing make the cycle easier to repeat. The reward is short-lived, so the urge returns quickly. 

Social media speeds up the same cycle by turning buying into entertainment through hauls and unboxing. It also normalized constant “refreshes,” allowing fast fashion to deliver newness faster than most people can wear what they already own.

From Being Seen to Buying More

In photo and short-video-driven social media, clothing functions as public self-presentation: outfits can be posted, compared, and judged by others at any time. This visibility can turn “repeating an outfit” into a subtle social pressure to keep buying, especially for Gen Z, increasing the motivation to buy more frequently. 

Platforms amplify impulsive buying through scarcity cues such as countdowns, limited quantities, and “low stock” warnings that trigger FOMO (fear of missing out) and compress deliberation. At the same time, microtrends spread rapidly on TikTok and Instagram, shortening trend cycles and making “newness” feel like a requirement. Fast fashion benefits from this accelerated pace by delivering novelty quickly, transforming visibility, fear of repeating, and fear of missing out into higher-frequency consumption.

From Cheap to Costly Later

Fast fashion doesn’t win because it’s truly “better value.” It wins because prices are designed to feel like a deal. And make walking away harder than clicking “buy.”

First comes price anchoring: an original “was” price or a higher-priced comparison that makes the current price look like a bargain. Then promotions push shoppers to buy more than they planned  like “second item cheaper,” “spend more, save more,” and free-shipping thresholds that turn one item into a larger cart. Online timers and low-stock alerts add urgency and shrink the time to think.

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) installments can intensify this by splitting payments, reducing the pain of paying upfront. “Cheap” is the surface; the system makes costs feel smaller now and pushes them into later.

From Scrolling to a Closed-Loop Cart

Platforms make shopping feel automatic. When consumers pause on certain looks, recommendation systems keep feeding similar items, shaping what they see next and reinforcing a simple identity story that this style fits them. The result is less searching, more exposure, and a stronger urge to buy.

At checkout, saved payment, autofill, and one click purchasing shorten the moment where people might reconsider. Research from Cornell reported that when shoppers were given one click checkout, their long term average spending increased by about 28.5%. Fast delivery and easy returns then lower the perceived risk, especially for apparel sizing. Many shoppers respond by ordering multiple sizes to try, keeping one and returning the rest. This makes buying feel reversible, but it shifts real costs to extra shipping, packaging, processing, and unsold inventory.

We can interrupt this cycle! Before your next order, pause for 10 seconds and ask: are you buying a piece of clothing, or are you buying an emotion, an identity, or a sense of social security? Fast fashion is designed to turn that moment into one-click checkout, but the costs come back through resource depletion and waste.

Starting today, take back your power of choice and buy less, buy better. Sign The Fashion Industry Must Change Petition, and use the 30 wears test before you buy: will you wear it at least 30 times, or could you create a similar look with what you already own? If this resonated, share it with a friend and help make repeating outfits normal again.

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Somewhere between “I believe in climate change” and “I’m doing something to address climate change” lies the difference between a movement that stalls and one that transforms society. 

In a 2021 Gallup poll, 41% of Americans identified as “environmentalists,” with 22% identifying as “strong environmentalists.” On the surface, these numbers seem encouraging — nearly half the country aligns with environmental values. But a groundbreaking study from 2018 published in the leading journal Science suggests we may be asking the wrong question.

The issue isn’t how many people identify as environmentalists. It’s how many are willing to act as if it were true and do so consistently, visibly, and persistently enough to shift the norms that shape society. In activism, as in life, quality beats quantity. But what does “quality” actually mean when you’re trying to save the planet?

According to the study in Science, it means reaching a critical threshold of commitment. Researchers found in an online experiment that when only 25% of a group consistently championed a new position, they converted between 72% and 100% of the population, even when there had previously been unanimous agreement. This phenomenon — the power of a committed minority to transform majority behavior — has become known as the “25% Revolution.” The 25% Revolution challenges traditional assumptions about social change that are based on classic economic models, which presume that majorities (or at least 51% of a group) are required to shift collective behavior.

For the environmental movement, this finding is both encouraging and challenging. Encouraging because we may already be approaching that threshold. This is challenging because having 22% of people identify as “strong environmentalists” and having 25% act as catalytic change-makers are fundamentally different.

The Commitment Gap

If we’re at nearly 25%, why does meaningful change still feel out of reach? Why are we still fighting for basic climate policies? Why does sustainable living feel like a fringe choice rather than the norm?

This is the gap the environmental movement must close. Saving the planet is not a participation trophy handed out to everyone who cares; it’s won by the committed minority willing to act. Consider two people who both identify as environmentalists. The first recycles when convenient, supports clean energy in principle, and worries about the future. The second has installed solar panels and encourages her neighbors to do so, advocates for expanded bike lanes, and attends local government meetings to advocate for climate policies.

Both would check “environmentalist” on a survey. Only the second is engaged in norm-shifting. Only the second is creating the kind of social proof that transforms what their community considers normal, practical, and desirable. Only the second represents the kind of committed action required by the 25% Revolution.

The Three Forces of the 25% Revolution

For the environmental movement, the 25% Revolution can manifest through three powerful mechanisms:

Social proof redefines what’s normal. When your coworker brings their lunch in reusable metal containers, when your neighbor parks their electric vehicle on the street every day, when a quarter of students bike to campus instead of driving — these repeated, visible choices signal that sustainable living is normal, practical, and increasingly mainstream. We look to those around us to determine acceptable behavior, driven by the fundamental human desire to belong and fit in with our community. A visible, committed 25% redefines what “normal” looks like.

Economic momentum follows social change. Markets respond when a substantial minority demonstrates consistent demand. Specifically, when 16% of consumers — considered the “critical mass” of innovators and early adopters — consistently adopt a product, the rate of market penetration accelerates dramatically. This dynamic has been demonstrated with organic food, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. These were niche markets until sustained consumer commitment tipped them into the mainstream. Companies that once dismissed sustainability now compete for environmental credentials because a committed minority made it economically rational to do so. When corporations suddenly embrace sustainability, it’s easy to dismiss it as greenwashing — empty marketing without substance. But when driven by genuine consumer behavior, it is the market responding to a changed norm.

Political viability emerges when elected officials recognize that a committed quarter of constituents can determine electoral outcomes. Sustained public mobilization, from climate strikes to farmer protests, has been shown to compel policy action, even on contentious issues. Additionally, when citizens organize to make climate action both visible and politically important, elected officials respond because their political survival depends on it. Thus, environmental policy ceases to be a political risk and becomes a political necessity when a mobilized 25% makes it clear that their votes depend on tangible climate action.

From Concern to Catalyst

The environmental movement’s central challenge is to convert passive concern into active, visible, sustained commitment. This is where organizations like EARTHDAY.ORG are essential.

EARTHDAY.ORG works to mobilize and sustain exactly the kind of committed action the 25% Revolution requires. Through education, advocacy, and community building, we help concerned individuals become catalysts for change. The Earth Day movement has always been about civil society mobilization and ordinary people coming together to demand extraordinary change. 

The environmental movement may already have the numbers needed to win. What we need now is to activate that potential by transforming diffuse concern into concentrated, visible, and persistent commitment. We need to be the 25% who refuse to accept the status quo as inevitable and who, day after day, demonstrate that a different future is possible.

Earth Day 2026 arrives at a critical moment, with our environment under assault. Butwe’vee been here before. In 1970, 20 million Americans walked the streets demanding change. That day transformed everything. This year’s theme, Our Power, Our Planet, recalls the principle that sparked the movement: the power to protect our future rests with us.
Earth Day’s enduring legacy is the power of people rising together. Join us on April 18, April 22, and throughout 2026 to preserve the progress we have made. You can also create and post an event, sign up to receive updates on Earth Day, or become a partner of Earth Day 2026 and add your organization’s logo.

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Canadian Wildfires Rage On

Melting Glaciers Threaten Antarctic Wildlife

Air Quality Drops as Cars Swarm the Roads

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Every day, headlines about climate change flood our screens—relentless, alarming, impossible to ignore. While the world keeps on spinning, countless minds are caught in a whirlwind of anxiety and despair, heightened by our collective failure to meet essential climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. The Agreement, an international treaty on climate change adopted in December 2015 during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) aimed to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to keep it to 1.5°C.

Most of us, whether we are aware of it or not, are being impacted by climate fears. Even young kids are struggling to adjust. The COVID-19 pandemic only intensified these challenges: lockdowns kept children indoors, increasing isolation and limiting exposure to nature—factors linked to declines in mental well-being and rising cases of nature deficit disorder. 

Nature deficit disorder is a term coined by Richard Louv in 2005 to describe the negative consequences—such as increased stress, attention difficulties, and obesity—that can arise when people, especially children, spend too little time outdoors in natural environments. While not recognized as a formal medical diagnosis, the concept is supported by a growing body of research linking time in nature to improved mental and physical health. Leading institutions like the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Cornell, are studying the effects of nature exposure and how access to green spaces and nature benefits our overall well-being. 

This overlap between exposure to nature, pandemic stress and growing climate anxiety highlights just how closely our environment and mental health are connected. The psychological impacts, from the stress of isolation and uncertainty during the pandemic, to the worry and helplessness many feel about climate change are becoming increasingly significant —sometimes rivaling the physical effects. 

While acute symptoms such as panic attacks and PTSD are the most visible manifestations of these mental health impacts, indirect effects like eco-anxiety and eco-paralysis are also emerging as major mental health challenges in the face of environmental change.

These emerging terms are classified as psychoterratic, (literally, “earth-related”) or ‘environmental emotions’, a concept coined by Glenn Albrecht in Earth Emotions, meaning how our perspective on the world around us impacts our states of discomfort or well-being. [1] 

The Earth Can Heal Us

But what makes this all stand out is that possibility of well-being. So, let us focus on the philias instead of the phobias. From the life changing power of sunny morning walks, to the life affirming fresh ocean breeze effect, to the rainbow after a storm, there are plenty of ways the natural world sparks joy. Let’s take a look into the emerging world of climate psychology.

1. Endemophilia: The Love of the Local

Endemophilia is a word that sings of home—a deep, almost instinctive love for the places that are uniquely ours. Its roots are as layered as the landscapes it describes: from the English “endemic,” the French “endémique,” and the Greek “endemos” (native to the people) and “philia” (love of), it weaves together a tapestry of belonging. At its heart, endemophilia means “a dwelling of native love in the people”—a feeling that anchors us to the land beneath our feet.

You might think, “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt that.” But if you’ve ever missed your hometown, longed for the scent of freshly cut grass, or felt a pang seeing a photo of your childhood home, you’ve been touched by endemophilia. It’s that gentle ache of homesickness, the quiet pride in local traditions, the comfort of a landscape that feels like an old friend.

Imagine you’ve moved away from your hometown to a new city. One sunny afternoon, you’re walking through a city park when you catch the scent of pine needles, and suddenly you’re immersed in memories of the forests near your childhood home. You’re flooded with a deep sense of longing and affection for that specific place—the familiar trails, the local wildlife, the way the light filters through the trees. This emotional connection isn’t just about loving nature in general; it’s about loving your place, the unique environment that shaped your sense of belonging. That’s endemophilia.

Endemophilia reminds us that the Earth is our home. Those trees stretching across the yard, the chirping birds that greet you in the morning. They’re our place, so let’s protect them.

2. Sumbiophilia: We’re All In This Together

The concept of biophilia—our innate love for life and living things—was first introduced by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in 1964, and later popularized by biologist E.O. Wilson in 1984. 

Wilson described biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life,” suggesting that humans are naturally drawn to connect with the living world.

Building on this idea, philosopher  Glenn A. Albrecht proposed a new term: sumbiophilia. This word comes from the Greek sumbios (living together) and philia (love), and it means “the love of living together.” Sumbiophilia captures not just our affection for nature, but our deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of all life—the way humans, animals, and ecosystems thrive in community. This love for living together is rooted in our ancestry and our highly social nature as humans.*

This emotion explores the positive connection between humans and other animal species, and living in harmony with the natural world. [1] Even more, it helps us understand how life is connected within individual organisms, between different species, and throughout entire ecosystems. 

For example, imagine taking a walk in your local park after a stressful day at work. As you listen to birdsong, feel the sun on your face, see the green of the trees and watch children play under them, you notice your mood starts to lift and your stress melting away. This simple experience is an example of biophilia in action—your natural, positive connection to other living things and the environment around you.

3. Eutierria: The Euphoria of the Earth

Eutierria is a term coined by philosopher Glenn Albrecht, combining the Greek prefix “eu-” (meaning “good”) and the Latin “terra” (meaning “earth”). This emotion describes a powerful sense of harmony, where the boundary between yourself and the natural world seems to disappear. 

In a state of eutierria, you feel deeply connected to the Earth—part of a greater whole, rather than separate from it. It’s the uplifting sensation that comes from a truly symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, becoming one with the world around you.[1] It’s even been linked to the “oceanic feeling” described in spiritual and religious writings.

So, what does eutierria feel like? A bit like standing barefoot on a beach, listening to the waves crashing as the spray splashes your face, that salty taste in your mouth, and the cold water washing over your feet. Looking out to the horizon, the world stills for a moment as your senses blend into the world around you. You feel both grounded and expansive—utterly at peace, yet vibrantly alive. That is eutierria: a profound, joyful unity with the living Earth.

However, while this feeling helps us transcend individualistic ideals to connect with nature, there is also a distinctly unique quality to how each of us interacts with our senses. This paradox—of being one with the world while still experiencing it through our own individuality—is a key part of environmental psychology and philosophy.

Mind Over Matter

With all this in mind, it’s important to understand the power of self-efficacy—the belief in your own ability to succeed and make a difference in specific situations. Research shows that when people believe their actions can make a difference in addressing climate change (self-efficacy), and that those actions will actually help (response efficacy), they are more likely to stay motivated and committed to climate solutions.

Simply put, believing in your ability to make a difference—known as self-efficacy—can help turn eco-anxiety into positive, pro-environmental actions instead of negative emotions. In fact, studies have found that when teenagers feel confident in their ability to help the environment (green self-efficacy) and can imagine their future selves, they are more likely to take eco-friendly actions. 

Language Matters

This all matters because information is power – and by understanding these terms and emotions, it can help mitigate fear mongering and hopelessness surrounding climate change. 

Whatever the emotion, now more than ever we need to fight for the future of this natural utopia. And change is certainly underway. Check out our article The Eco-Anxiety Epidemic to see how Gen Z activists are evolving these emotions into solutions.

* Source: Dr. Matteo Innocenti, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, European Climate Pact Ambassador, President Italian Climate Change Anxiety Association, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Climate Change and Mental Health: Understanding the Impact on Well-Being; April 2, 2025

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