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Welcome to the second article in the Legal Pillars Of Wellness series! If you’re just joining us, over the course of the next few months, this series will explore each of the following legal pillars of wellness, specifically focusing on issues, ideas, and suggestions related to law students, bar exam takers, and lawyers. I hope you’ll follow along!
Legal Pillars of Wellness
- Mental & Emotional Wellness;
- Environmental Wellness;
- Physical Wellness;
- Financial Wellness;
- Spiritual Wellness;
- Intellectual Wellness;
- Occupational Wellness; and
- Social Wellness.
Pillar #2: Environmental Wellness
In the traditional pillars of wellness, environmental wellness focuses on respecting the environment. In the Legal Pillars of Wellness, we are going to break down environmental wellness into two parts: The first will focus on the more traditional definition and the second will focus on creating a home environment to support your wellness journey.
Part 1: Respect the Environment

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While I’ve worked at two of the top three environmental law schools and my father has had a lifelong career in parks, recreation, and conservation, I won’t pretend to be an expert in environmentalism. However, even I know some basic ways to respect and improve the environment. The point here isn’t to turn you into an environmentalist or activist — although it is totally fine if that happens. The goal is to find ways to engage with the environment in a positive manner.
Here are some ideas for improving your relationship with the environment:
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Reduce: Create less waste.
- Use a reusable lunchbox, water bottle, and grocery bags instead of getting disposable ones.
- Reduce energy use by using some of the conservation tips below.
- Use a reusable lunchbox, water bottle, and grocery bags instead of getting disposable ones.
- Reuse: Find a new purpose for an old item.
- Use plastic grocery bags as garbage bags.
- Donate clothes and other items that are in good shape but that you can no longer use.
- Recycle: Change old products into new ones. Consider recycling the following:
- Glass;
- Plastic;
- Aluminum;
- Paper;
- Batteries; and
- Electronics.
- Reduce: Create less waste.
- Conserve:
- Unplug your electronics when not in use.
- Turn off lights in rooms you aren’t using.
- Use energy-efficient light bulbs.
- Fix leaky faucets, toilets, and showerheads.
- Use less hot water.
- Patronize: Get out and enjoy your local parks. Go on a hike, swim, run, nature walk, or other outdoor adventure.
- Volunteer:
- Remove graffiti.
- Pick up litter.
- Help remove invasive plants.
- Donate: Set up a monthly donation to a non-profit organization that supports parks, recreation, and conservation efforts.
Part 2: Home Environment
Another important environment is your home environment. This is somewhere you likely spend a lot of your time and the way you have your home set up can either positively or negatively impact your wellness.
Here are a few ideas to create a home environment that will support your wellness journey:
- Declutter & organize: Clutter doesn’t make anyone feel good.
- Create a zen space: Theoretically, your entire house can be a zen space, but more likely than not you aren’t going to want to chill out in the same place you do your work. Create a small corner or area of your home that you can go to when you want to relax and chill out. You can use cozy pillows and blankets to create a reading nook, meditation corner, or [insert your hobby here] corner!
- Use a soothing scent: One relatively cheap and easy way to create an uplifting home environment is to utilize scent. You can diffuse essential oils or burn candles or incense in your favorite scent to help make your home feel peaceful and relaxing.
- Create positivity: Let your home be a reflection of your dreams, ambitions, and what is important to you. Make a vision board and display it somewhere you see it regularly, place motivational quotes on your refrigerator or mirrors, and decorate with pictures of the people and places that are important to you.
- Maximize sunlight: Sunlight increases serotonin production (aka makes you happier), helps produce vitamin D, and can help you feel more focused, among other benefits. Try to maximize the natural sunlight in your home, particularly in the winter months. If you don’t get very much sunlight, you can invest in “happy” light that mimics the sun and provides many of the same benefits.
Whatever ways you choose to uplevel your environment, I hope you find that it impacts and improves your overall wellness.
Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at [email protected].