WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER:  Get More Trees in Your Neighborhood – Not Fewer – Here’s Why
Study:  More Trees In Neighborhoods Can Improve Health, Lower Medical Costs 
[Plus Reduce Energy Costs and Increase Property Value]
Never underestimate the trees in your life.  In fact, consider adding a few.
If you’ve ever read the classic children’s book, “The Giving Tree,” by Shel Silverstein, then you have a good idea how trees can really save us, in so many ways.  But there are some we may not realize, at first.
University of Illinois researchers found that having lots of trees in your neighborhood could improve your health and lower your medical costs.
Scientists looked at 13 years of data, accumulated for five million people.  They found, after accounting for other factors, that people with the fewest number of trees in their neighborhood had higher levels of health problems…  And they incurred $374 worth of medical costs per year, compared with those who had the highest number of trees in their areas.
Study author Matthew Browning adds, “The mechanisms linking nature and health are very diverse, but the benefits are believed to be in part because being in green space can decrease stress, promote healthy behaviors and improve air quality.”
Other studies have shown that mature trees, which shade your home from a distance, tend to lower your energy costs, as well.
Property values go up, with the presence of trees, especially mature, well cared for varieties.  Real estate agents will confirm this.

Branch out here, for more:  (UPI)

 

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