White Noise Was The Only Way I Could Fall Asleep — Until I Tried Green Noise

As someone who wakes up when a neighbor stirs three blocks away, I have to turn on some sort of white noise to cancel out any and all sounds or I simply will not sleep. White noise has been my go-to sleep sound for years, whether it’s a fan, air conditioner, or that 10-hour white noise soundtrack on YouTube. (Half of its 160 million views are mine.) But when I switched things up and tried sleeping with green noise instead, I actually got a... better night’s sleep?

Green noise is a variation of white noise that has a low frequency of about 500 hertz, says Dr. Shelby Harris, a board-certified behavior sleep medicine specialist and director of sleep health at Sleepopolis. This is different from true white noise, which contains all the frequencies across the spectrum to create a static-like sound, like the kind that comes from a TV or an air conditioner, she tells Bustle. White noise tends to sound sharper to your ear, but it’s that combo of screechy and rumbly frequencies that effectively block out background noise, whether it’s a car alarm, a barking dog, or a neighbor making a smoothie at 3 a.m.

It makes sense why white noise is so popular, but when you compare white and green you can instantly tell that green noise is a lot calmer. “Green noise is commonly associated with nature sounds, such as waterfalls, oceans, and rain,” Harris says, hence the association with the color green. Keep reading for what it was like to sleep with green noise, including why it’s so good for the brain.

My Experience

While I definitely fall asleep mid-movie on a regular basis, I do try to create a serene sleep space whenever possible. For me, that means dimming the lights, putting my phone down, and turning on white noise to drown out city sounds. Again, a fan or air conditioner usually does the trick, but desperate times call for desperate measures. If there’s something particularly loud happening outside, that’s when I turn on my trusty white noise apps.

White noise certainly drowns out annoying sounds, which is why it’s so helpful when you need to sleep or study, but I didn’t realize how loud it can be. When I tried sleeping with green noise it felt like I was transported away from a staticky TV into a deep, lush rainforest during a gentle storm. Green noise doesn’t have animal sounds or claps of thunder, though — just the same rushing sound over and over. The first night I tried it, I was knocked out instantly.

If you’ve ever cracked your windows to listen to the rain, then you know how soothing it can be. There’s nothing staticky about rainfall. It’s relaxing, there are natural variations that block out other noises, and yet it’s repetitive enough to allow a busy, distractible brain to fuzz over and fall asleep.

I noticed that I fell asleep a little faster with the green noise and that it helped my body relax. Similar to the way you can ~let it all go~ when you hear the crashing of ocean waves, this natural sound sent a signal to my body and rain that it was time to go to rest.

The Benefits Of Sleeping With Green Noise

In my opinion, green noise is gentler and more relaxing than white noise, which made it better for sleeping, and there’s plenty of science to back that up. “In order to sleep at night, our brain has to reduce its heightened awareness or ‘arousability’ to stimuli in our environment, so we can relax and allow our brainwaves to slow enough to sleep,” says Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and head sleep expert at Wesper.

Rohrscheib notes some people have an arousal threshold that makes them extra responsive to stimuli. (Cough, me.) “This can make it super difficult to fall asleep, especially when there is inconsistent, random noise, such as street noise or the sound of your pet moving, that keeps your brain in a heightened state,” she tells Bustle. A consistent background noise, on the other hand, lulls your brain to sleep and makes it easier to stay there.

There might even be something evolutionary going on, she says, since pretty much everyone finds rain and ocean sounds relaxing. Rohrscheib points out that our ancestors fell asleep to natural sounds, and now we can simulate that same peacefulness with TikTok videos. Aah...

The Bottom Line

Once I realized green noise was relaxing, and not just a way to block out annoying sounds, I found that I wanted to listen to it before bed and as a way to turn my apartment into a spa-like oasis. According to Harris, it’s true that listening to green noise can promote a sense of relaxation, and actually help you unwind.

White noise can also help you sleep, and some people use it every night, but the low frequency of green noise is the calmer option — especially if you’re extra sensitive. In fact, it wasn’t until I switched to green noise that I realized how grating white noise can be. As an extra light sleeper, green noise will definitely be my new go-to bedtime soundtrack.

Studies referenced:

Angwin, AJ. White noise enhances new-word learning in healthy adults. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13383-3.

Calamassi, D. Music Tuned to 440 Hz Versus 432 Hz and the Health Effects: A Double-blind Cross-over Pilot Study. Explore (NY). doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2019.04.001.

Capezuti, E. (2022). Systematic review: auditory stimulation and sleep. J Clin Sleep Med. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.9860.

Ebben, MR. (2021). The effects of white noise on sleep and duration in individuals living in a high noise environment in New York City. Sleep Med. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.03.031.

Franco, LS. (2017). A Review of the Benefits of Nature Experiences: More Than Meets the Eye. Int J Environ Res Public Health. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14080864.

Kalmbach, DA. (2018). Hyperarousal and sleep reactivity in insomnia: current insights. Nat Sci Sleep. doi: 10.2147/NSS.S138823.

Lu, SY. (2020). Spectral content (colour) of noise exposure affects work efficiency. Noise Health. doi: 10.4103/nah.NAH_61_18.

Sources:

Dr. Shelby Harris, board-certified behavior sleep medicine specialist, director of sleep health at Sleepopolis

Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, Ph.D., neuroscientist, head sleep expert at Wesper