Environmental Impact

Quality of Life
The experience of leisure enhances and reflects the quality of life or well-being of both the individual and the society of which she or he is a part. (Freysinger, 2001)

Because of the lifetime external costs proven by economists that are associated with a sedentary lifestyle, prevention of a sedentary lifestyle is an important individual and societal issue and provides an economic rationale for health-promotion programs and active leisure lifestyles. (Iso-Ahola, et al., 2001)

Conservation
The U.S. Forest Service calculated that over a 50-year lifetime one tree generates $31,250 worth of oxygen, provides $62,000 worth of air pollution control, recycles $37,500 worth of water, and controls $31,250 worth of soil erosion. (Sherer, 2003)