I recently saw a poll that was conducted by an independent research group in Britain that used the "Happy Planet Index," which seeks countries with the most content, or essentially the “Happiest place in the world”. Their research found a small Latin American County – Costa Rica, that beat out such heavyweights as the US and Canada and other larger more “developed” countries the world over. What they found as they conducted their research was that Costa Rica was a country with a goal of building a new economy, “centered on people and the environment”.

This aggressive goal- which the country takes quite seriously, is the secret to why they posses the most content people in the world. The index takes into consideration the ecological footprint and life expectancy of the countries, and Costa Rica stood out like a diamond amongst some smoggy rocks. As you review the study, you can’t help but to realize the impact a “greener” lifestyle can have on a community/country.

Costa Rica is a small country located between Nicaragua and Panama, and with no army of its own, is renowned for its peace making efforts, as the President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias Sanchez won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for trying to help end civil wars in neighboring countries. So rather than funneling funds for a defense budget, they can use those dollars to increase literacy as it is one of the most literate countries in Latin America, while they also work to preserve their natural resources.

This beautiful country has some incredible natural resources- cloud forests, rain forests, lakes and volcanoes plus not just one but two beautiful coasts with pristine beaches, and so many varieties of birds, you’d think you were in a jungle Shangri-la.

I believe Costa Rica is an excellent model of the positive impact leading a “balanced” economy can have for the population; one that is centered on its people and the environment, and what the effect of this new economy can do for the people in that country.

Better health; life expectancy is 78 years old in Costa Rica

Better Health means lower health care costs due to lack of “diseases of developed countries”, obesity, heart disease etc

More opportunity; Costa Rica has the lowest unemployment rate of Latin America at 4.8 %

Smaller Ecological Footprint- the county narrowly fails to achieve the goal of consuming its fair share of the earth’s natural resources and strives to continue to improve

More Social Imagination- with no army and vast untouched but protected natural resources, the people of Costa Rica have been inventive in how they create opportunity without exploiting their resources.

As the US embarks on a new healthcare plan as well as addressing climate change, this study is an example of how these two issues go hand in hand and the impact it can have on the lifestyles and subsequent health of a country.

Costa Ricans have a saying “Pura Vida” which means Pure Life, maybe the US needs to adapt a similar mantra- such as “Pure Health” and work towards a smaller ecological footprint- as the “health” of our economy could benefit, as well as the “health” of our country.