More green. Less screen.

If you want better balance, you’ll need to fight for it.

If you’re reading this right now, you’re probably already sold on the idea of “More green. Less screen.”

Most of our lives we’ve heard about the benefits of nature, and how it can improve both our physical and psychological human well-being. For example:

• Being exposed to nature can improve working memory, cognitive flexibility and attentional control.
• Contact with nature is associated with increased happiness, subjective well-being… and a sense of meaning and purpose in life.
• Time in nature can improve our physical health, like giving us more Vitamin D and improving nearsightedness.

We’ve probably backed this up with our own “green vs. screen” research.

For instance, many of us feel invigorated, content and proud after a day-long hike, but never that way after a day-long Netflix binge!

So then, why even compare the two when there’s no comparison?

Why is the screen so powerful in our lives when the green is chock-full of so much awesomeness?

Screens are powerful

It all comes down to this core fact: green has no ulterior motive, but screens do.

Nearly every piece of technology we interact with is programmed to follow some sort of agenda, set by the companies who created it.

We don’t even think about this agenda until after we’ve had our screen-time, when we say things like, “I can’t believe I watched an HOUR of YouTube videos” or, “I can’t believe I’ve been gaming all night!” or, “I can’t believe I almost got into an accident texting in my car!”

I’ll let you in on a little secret… the people who developed that tech are not shocked you did any of those things. That was their goal — to increase the “stickiness” of the app, the amount of user engagement, the time spent per visit. They got PAID to further their agenda, which was to keep you coming back for more.

In the green vs. screen debate, we need to understand that we’re fighting against forces that are bigger than us, with deeper pockets than us, who are totally all-in on ensuring they have future generations of active users (i.e., our kids!).

Kids need our help

The problem is, the screens are winning.  

According to the Kaiser Foundation, “Kids ages 8-18 now spend, on average, a whopping 7.5 hours in front of a screen for entertainment each day, 4.5 of which are spent watching TV. Over a year, that adds up to 114 full days of watching a screen for fun.”

This doesn’t include the time they spend on the computer at school for educational purposes or at home doing their homework (which post-pandemic, is often fully screen-based as well.)

Infographic from the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity

By logging all this screen-time, our kids are being trained to crave the easy dopamine hits that come with the endless scrolls, customized content and instant rewards. Research has found that this experience can be as addictive as opioids. How can we expect the slow burn, intricate, multisensory wonder that we call “nature” to compete with that?

If our kids complete a round of a game, they get an extra life for their character or a digital reward. If they complete a hike, they get… sore feet? (Sadly, nature will never drop a baby bunny into their cupped hands as an instant reward!)

Therefore, it’s important to have conversations with your family about the comfort that comes when digital delights are continuously served up to you, versus the delights that come from being fully present in the natural world.

How you can help

“At the end of the day, it’s not right that parents are left to fight this battle on their own against companies whose business model is to keep people online for as long as possible.” Leana Wen, Washington Post

So true. And yet, for the time being… here we are.

If we want more green and less screen in our lives, in our kids’ lives, we’re going to have to fight for it, by actively blocking the noise and redirecting our collective attention.

It’s a big project, but there are some easy ways to begin.

1. Pledge to participate in Screen-Free Week, May 1-7, an opportunity for you and your family to take a break from entertainment screens and engage with the world. Use it as a ready-made excuse to haul your family into the wild and start exploring!
2. Leave the phone at home (or stored away for safety). Yes, it’s cool to capture a picture of a beautiful sunset, but what if you took a picture with your mind instead? Rather than sharing the moment with your online audience, connect with the people next to you by discussing how this makes you feel and why it’s so beautiful.
3. Do some digital housekeeping. Use the time away from screens during Screen-Free Week to take back control of your devices. Turn off all unnecessary notifications (and explain to kids how they add distraction, not value), delete any apps that are continually problematic for your family and consider installing screen-time trackers on devices so you all can be more aware of the time you’re spending online.
4. Set intentions. Screens aren’t inherently evil. They’re an integral part of our lives, helping us stay connected, informed, educated and happy. The key is to be intentional when you use them. Make the screen obey you and your agenda. Avoid turning to screens when you’re bored, trying to avoid something or unsure what you want. That’s an easy way to get sucked down the rabbit hole.  

Most importantly, keep offering your kids opportunities to experience what is sadly now an “alternate reality” by spending as much time in nature as possible, even curling up with an e-reader under a tree. (Baby steps!) 

Remember, your kids will likely never remember their best day of gaming — but catching Mother Nature at her most glorious may be an experience they’ll never forget.

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