I try to incorporate being green into anything I can when practical. This goes for the rooms of my home, what I buy and habits I have developed. Since fitness is a huge part of my life, I decided that I needed to add some green to my fitness routine, too. While I tend to not take my Eco friendly ways to extremes because I am all about practicality, there are some simple changes I can do to hep the environment and get fit at the same time. Here are some Eco friendly ways to get fit that you can easily incorporate into your active lifestyle, too!
7 Eco-Friendly Ways to Get Fit
Workout in nature when you can- I love the gym. I spend hours in there when I go, which is often, especially in the cooler or extreme hot months here in the Pacific Northwest. During the Spring and fall, I really love to get outdoors and make it my gym, though. This comes in the form of playing games like tennis with my husband, hiking through the beautiful trails here or even taking a simple walk or jog.
Use reusable water bottles and don’t buy pre-made protein snacks- It makes me cringe when I think about all the plastic water bottles that get thrown away. I have a huge passion of reducing our dependence on disposable plastic. I use a bottle that can be used over and over again when I hit the gym and I avoid buying pre-made protein snacks such as those you find with the nuts, cheese and fruit in them. You can easily make these at home and not buy something that will be going in the trash.
Buy greener gear-Did you know that there are many green options for purchasing green workout gear? I’m not even talking about the clothing you would wear, but things like eco-friendly yoga mats, or even natural cork and rubber mats. Sometimes this gear is a bit more than than others but it is often far better quality and will last longer, too.
Get a great workout buddy- A workout buddy is perfect if you want to go green with your workouts because you can commute to the gym together! Additionally, it will allow you to play sports that require more than one person, too. Suddenly tennis becomes a option because you have someone to rally with.
Recycle your shoes when you are done with them- did you know that even your worn out shoes can do the environment good? They don’t have to end up in a landfill thanks to Nikes’ Reuse-A-Shoe program. This program recycles worn out athletic shoes into new things such as tennis courts, playgrounds and even new shoes and apparel under the Nike brand. Pretty cool!
Check second hand stores for equipment- Thrift stores are great because they keep things out of the landfill by providing a second chance place to find an owner. I see all kinds of fitness equipment at stores like this from treadmills to tennis rackets and even free weights. Just make sure you inspect the items you are considering purchasing so they are safe to use.
Join a green gym- Green gyms are a thing now. Some of them run off natural or clean energy and others use more energy efficient equipment. Huffpost has a great list of green gyms!
