Career Stress – Could it be Killing our Planet?

A recent article by the Christian Science Monitor got me to thinking…could work stress actually be hurting the environment? Could finding a low-stress job you love actually be a green choice?

In this article, which you can read here, researchers have studied the happiness of the world across many categories, and what they’ve found is that high-consumption countries are not, in general, among the happiest countries. According to this report, in fact, some of the happiest countries in the world are poor countries in Latin America.

It is pretty certain that happiness and consumption are adversely related, with a breaking point, of course. What I want to know is this – in America (and other Western countries), are we unhappy because of all the consumption? Or are we consuming because we are unhappy?

Think about it. On one hand, consumption can make people, in general, unhappy, because we have all of these THINGS, but still are unsatisfied. It’s an unending cycle – we buy more things to make us happy, then get even more unhappy when they don’t make our lives perfect. It’s a good theory.

However, what I’d like to propose is a bit different – perhaps over-consumption is happening in unhappy countries in part because we’re unhappy about unrelated things and use possessions to feel better. Maybe workplace stress, as well as other things like family problems, are causing us to be un-green consumers.

In fact, I know they are. I try to be green, but when I have a bad day at work? There’s nothing I love more than popping in my favorite movie and picking up some Dairy Queen. Most days, I’d rather spend time outside and I’ll ditch the pre-packaged food for something homemade.

Multiple my experiences by millions now. Every day, there are thousands – maybe even millions – of people who come home from work stressed out. So, they give in, buy themselves those shoes they don’t need, go for a drive just for the sake of clearing their heads, pick up crummy but delicious fast food, or otherwise give in to non-green pleasures.

I’m not saying that we can never indulge, but stress at work might be causing us to do so more often.

Can we create a greener world just by working in a job that makes us happy? It’s an interesting idea…I’d love to hear your thoughts!