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Overworked Americans are a sustainability problem. As compared to the rest of the world, Americans receive the least amount of paid holidays and annual leave. This is shown in the graph in the lower right of the collage above. ([]) When people feel burnt out from work, they lose productivity. In addition, they have less time and energy to put toward leading a sustainable lifestyle. Some ways to combat this situation is to allow employees to take power naps during the work day, depicted in the upper left portion of the collage above. ([]) In addition, allowing free time during the day to work on company community gardens would help employees understand the importance of sustainability and it teach the importance of healthy, nutritious food, as depicted in the lower left photo. ([]) Only with a balanced lifestyle is sustainability possible, as illustrated in the upper right photo. (http://www.derbigum.com/us/US_about-us_sustainability_sustainable-systems.html)

Americans are some of the hardest working, most productive people in the world, which is exactly the problem. It is estimated that Americans have only 16.5 hours of leisure time per week after work and household chores are done. (Schor [1]) In fact, Americans work 1,804 hours per year, as compared to the 1,436 hours that Germans work. This is the “equivalent of nine extra 40-hour workweeks per year.” However, German productivity level is roughly the same as that of America. ( Wachter [2]) Why? One major factor is that Europeans are allowed and take advantage of more time off from work. Americans’ lack of free time has serious impacts.

Caring for the environment and creating a sustainable lifestyle requires time and effort. How can a family make changes to its home in order to have a more energy efficient lifestyle when there is no time? Also, over worked employees are much more likely to get burnt out quickly and stop working as hard. America’s working environment is unsustainable in itself.
 * Why Do We Need Leisure Time?**

Due to the competitive nature of the work environment in America, many times employees feel they need to work through vacation time in order to get those raises or promotions they seek. The harder they work, the better they look to their managers and job security is a huge issue, especially in the past few years. Many times, women are put at a disadvantage when they take maternity leave. Maternity leave is yet another node on the matrix of sustainability issues. If a woman has missed too much time, she is then behind in the work place. Studies, such as that done by the Maternal and Child Health Program from UC Berkeley, have found the importance of maternity leave on a newborn’s health, specifically related to breastfeeding. In fact, the study suggested that maternity leave times be extended in order to be even more beneficial. (Guendelman [3]) It is therefore important that employers understand the importance of time off.
 * Implications of Taking Time off from Work:**

Employers and employees alike must see the value in free time and it must start at the top. Managers in corporations need to encourage workers to de-stress during their time off as well. It is important to implement incentives for employees to take time off. · Education about the need for energized, refreshed workers and the value of vacation time needs to start at high levels in a company. Programs where sustainability organizations present to managers must be put into place.
 * How Do We Fix It?**

· Give employees that perform at high levels an extra day or two of vacation time. This helps motivate people to work, while also giving them more free time.

· Ensure that employees actually take their lunch breaks. Many times overachieving workers will work through their lunch breaks and not actually take the time to relax. Encourage workers to actually leave the building to have lunch rather than eating at their desks or in the building’s cafeteria if it has one. Make a deal with local delis or restaurants to give discounts to employees of that company. Put out picnic benches around the building for employees to eat at during nicer weather seasons.

· Allow employees to a take 20 minute power nap after lunch. This would allow workers to re-energize themselves and be more productive during the afternoon work hours. Of course this privilege could be easily taken advantage of so in some cases it may need to be monitored.

· Create community gardens on the company premise or green rooftop projects in city areas. Allow employees an hour break per day where they can tend the garden. This gives workers some fresh air and physical stimulation during the day while teaching them about sustainability. The vegetables and other plants that the gardens produce can be eaten or taken by the employees, which in turn will introduce more people to healthy, nutritious food and spark their appreciation for such foods.

· Create community gardens on the company premise or green rooftop projects in city areas. Allow employees an hour break per day where they can tend the garden. This gives workers some fresh air and physical stimulation during the day while teaching them about sustainability. The vegetables and other plants that the gardens produce can be eaten or taken by the employees, which in turn will introduce more people to healthy, nutritious food and spark their appreciation for such foods.

As described above, the main stakeholders include every worker in America. Newborns of working mothers are affected as well. In fact, children of all ages are affected, by having to be put in childcare and after school programs because their parents are working. This adds to the decline of the American family because there is less family time. Companies are also stakeholders because the productivity of their workers is at stake. They want more productivity but the more they push, the more their workers become burnt out.
 * Conclusion:**

[1] Schor, Juliet. “The Overworked American.” 1991. []

[2] Wachter, Paul. “Americans Work an ‘Extra’ 9 Weeks a Year.” AolNews. September 1, 2010. []

[3] Guendelum, Sylvia, Jessica Lang Kosa, Michelle Pearl, Steve Graham, Julia Goodnman, Martin Kharrazi. “Juggling Work and Breastfeeding: Effects of Maternity Leave and Occupational Characteristics.” California. January, 2009. []

[4] Associated Press. “Many Americans overworked, study finds.” MSNBC. 2010. []

[5] Johnson, Tory. “The Death of the American Vacation.” ABC. July 4, 2006. []

[6] “Creating your Own Rooftop Garden.” Gardening Know How. 2010. []

[7] Manhattan Rooftop Garden Project. July 24, 2010. []

[8] "Sustainability Organizations." Environmental Yellow Pages. 2010 http://www.enviroyellowpages.com/Resources/Education/sustainability_organizations.htm