Happy Planet Index

Thanks to Gloria for sending me this interesting link: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/survey.htm

"The Index doesn’t reveal the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the Index aren’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources is possible. The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption."

The top 10 countries on the HPI in order from 1 to 10 are: Vanuatu, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Panama, Cuba, Honduras, El Salvador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Interesting that Canada ranks #111 out of 178 countries and the USA is #150.

Take the quiz for yourself and see where you rank in terms of your ecological footprint, health and well-being, and outlook on life.