OutMore exists to inspire and help people spend more time outside because we believe the world would be a better place if we all got out a little more.
It’s that simple.
We believe that being trapped inside four walls is no way to go through life.
We believe our kids need to grow up playing in the dirt.
We believe a society that spends time in nature cares about nature.
We simply don’t spend enough time in nature.
Today, the average person spends about 7% of their life outside (of course this varies from person to person but that’s about the average according to a study funded by the EPA).
It’s no wonder most of us have nature deficit disorder (yeah, that’s a thing).
We overlook the fact that this lifestyle is unnatural. Only very recently in the entire evolution of mankind have we started spending most of our lives indoors. Our bodies are built to function in the natural world and depend on certain things like sunlight for vitamin D.
I think lack of nature explains why a lot of people feel imbalanced in our modern world, even when we have more stuff and more comfortable lives than we have ever had before.
Our kids should grow up outside.
By all indications, kids are spending less time in nature than their parents did. One survey showed that only 31% of kids go outside every day, compared to 70% of mothers who spent time outside everyday when they were kids.
What’s more, the mothers spent much longer time periods playing outside when they were kids than their kids do now.
Not only is indoor air more polluted than outdoor air, natural sunlight has been shown to increase children’s learning ability.
Spending time outside has also been shown to reduce the severity of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Is Less Time in Nature a Problem?
As more and more research indicates the current generation is spending less time outside than previous generations, we have to ask “so what?”
One study showed that children who spent more time in nature were less likely to develop psychiatric disorders as adults.
It’s also clear that being lazy makes you more lazy. When kids play outside they tend to be more active.
When researchers tracked kids activity by making them wear accelerometers, kids that spend more time being sedentary throughout the day remained more sedentary after school. They didn’t make up for the lack of play time later as you might expect.
Lack of daylight has led to increases of Vitamin D deficiency, which researchers are finding to be linked to several diseases and disorders.
But perhaps the most serious problem I see with our indoor lifestyle, is that the environmental problems we face today seem less important if you didn’t grow up spending time in nature.
A society that spends time in nature cares about nature.
What can nature do for you?
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, spending time in nature is good for your physical and mental health.
It’s not just the stress relief of spending time in greenspace (but thats a bonus too!), people who spend more time in nature have been shown to have reduced risk to a number of diseases including cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, preterm birth, high blood pressure, premature death from any cause, and poor overall health.
I wrote an entire article on this topic so you can read more here.
Spending time outside can even help you fight cancer! One study from Japan showed that spending a few days “forest bathing” increases immune system functions and boost anti-cancer proteins.
The mental benefits of spending time outside are just as amazing as the physical benefit. There are so many benefits, I think this video hits the nail on the head:
Sure that video is funny, but does it exaggerate?
Not really.
Spending time outside has been scientifically shown to lower depression, reduce the risk of dementia, reduce stress, restore your mind to improve performance at work, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
How does OutMore help?
We want to inspire and facilitate people to spend more time outside. Sometimes that means information and sometimes that means products.
For example, I personally find the article about how to sneak in more outdoor time during a busy working day very useful.
I also think people tend to be afraid of the wrong things in the woods and that keeps them from being outside more (my wife is an example as you’ll see in that article).
Here are a few more of our most popular blog posts. As you can see, the topics vary quite a bit but are all aimed at enjoying the outdoors:
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We also aim to develop or promote useful products that make it more comfortable and convenient to get outside. Like this pocket-sized inflatable pillow which weighs almost nothing so you can take it anywhere.
We send out discounts to our mailing list so if you’re interested in the pillow, consider joining the list to save some money. There are also several more exciting products in the works and the mailing lists will have access to new products first.
Most of all, we aim to develop a community of like-minded people who encourage each other to spend more time outside as part of their daily lives and share their own stories of how they accomplish this.
Join us.
