in students. These factors also contributed to student life, and student happiness must be considered in relation to many other environmental factors in addition to curriculum ( Hendershott et al., 1991 ). Research has reported that undergraduate
Research investigating the relationship between physical environments and various aspects of quality of life have found that people who live or work near natural areas have improved health and increased levels of satisfaction at home, work, and with life in general. Research has also shown that workers who performed their job function in offices with windows or interior plants had higher job satisfaction. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between the use of green spaces and public gardens in the work place on mental well-being, overall quality of life, and job satisfaction. The sample for this study was drawn from participants who were on the contact list of public garden employees and volunteers for a winter in-service training hosted by the Smithsonian Gardens (Washington, DC). Participants were e-mailed asking for their participation in the survey. An incentive of winning a greenhouse tour was used to improve the response rate. A total of 105 usable surveys were received out of 423 invitations that were sent for a response rate of 24.8%. Participants were asked to respond to questions regarding their work environment, mental well-being, overall quality of life, and job satisfaction. Differences were identified based on whether the participant was a paid employee or unpaid worker. Based on time spent outdoors during the workday, the only difference within the overall group existed with regard to how frequently the participant ate outdoors and their reported mental well-being. On the quality of life questions, differences for the overall sample, the paid group, and the unpaid group were found for having window views of plants or nature. On the job satisfaction question, differences were identified in the overall sample and the paid group for having a window in their immediate office or workplace. Several variables did not identify any statistically significant difference, which might result from this sample being already largely connected to nature due to their employment or volunteer work within a public garden.
staff while requiring less staff care. They self-reported being active and happy (self-rated happiness) with increased perceptions of personal control. This small intervention showed dramatic results in an environment where decision-making otherwise
economic value of many benefits of CH (such as esthetic value, happiness, environmental literacy, and ecosystem services) have not been identified, while methods for quantifying others (reduction in storm water runoff, reduced need for water treatment
Florida Agricultural Experiment Station journal series no. R-07077. We thank Don Bates of Bates Sons and Daughters and Stephen Phypers of Happiness Farms for their assistance and dedication to this project. The cost of publishing this paper
on what gardening is like. With gardening, your canvas is a living, growing, community that is ever changing.” “Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. I
-rated health, and happiness—three factors that are indicators of future health outcomes, sense of well-being, and life satisfaction. Optimum Planting Dates for Intercropping Cucumber, Squash, and Muskmelon with Strawberry Cucumber, summer squash, and muskmelon
touching soil stimulates the secretion of serotonin, which produces feelings of happiness. Park and Lee (2008) stated that sand therapy was effective in relieving the stress of infants who had depression and anxiety and exhibited cowering behavior. The
as several other factors positively contributed to learning. Furthermore, Hendershott et al. (1991) argued that factors other than education contributed to student life, and that student happiness must be considered in relation to many other
) cropping systems Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 189 28 35 Thaler, R.H. Sustein, C.R. 2008 Saving the planet, p. 183–196. Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT Thorup-Kristensen, K. 2006 Root growth and