Maybe I should pack my bags for Costa Rica.

Why? This small Latin American country is the “happiest and greenest country” on earth, according to the Happy Planet Index 2.0, published earlier this month by the New Economics Foundation.

The Index is an innovative global ranking system that combines environmental impact with well-being, and shows it is possible to live long, happy lives with much smaller ecological footprints.

The Index reveals a surprising picture of the relative wealth and progress of nations:

• Latin America tops the Index. Nine of the top ten nations on the Index are in Latin America.
• Island nations perform well. Five of the ten small island nations included in the HPI are in the top 20 per cent of the HPI rankings.
• Middle-income countries, like those in Latin America and South East Asia tend to be the closest to achieving sustainable well-being.
• Rich, developed nations fare poorly. The highest placed Western nation is the Netherlands – managing only 43rd out of 143. Canada — despite having the highest average life expectancy — ranks 89.

Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world, have the second-highest average life expectancy of the New World (second only to Canada) and have an admirable ecological footprint — an incredible 99 percent of their energy is being generated from sustainable sources. Perhaps that’s why some people choose to relocate there.

As the New York Times explains, what the Index actually measures is how efficiently a country consumes ecological resources to support a given level of happiness.

It is calculated based on “average years of happy life,” as measured by life satisfaction and life expectancy. That number is then divided by the populace’s “ecological footprint,” as measured by “the amount of land required to provide for all their resource requirements plus the amount of vegetated land required to sequester (absorb) all their CO2 emissions and the CO2 emissions embodied in the products they consume.”

Not everyone is swayed by the Foundation’s methodology. But it does provide hope that a balance is possible between living happily and living sustainably.