New Year’s resolutions aside, this is a great time of year to focus on physique. This week the Sierra Club gives ideas about how to get fit in the greenest of ways.
Tip #1: Empower Your Commute
That means: You power your own commute. Human-powered modes of transit (walking, jogging, biking) conserve fossil fuels and get you in better shape right quick. Live too far from your workplace to walk or bike? Surely there’s some regular commute you make by car that you could replace with calories. Bonus points for recruiting others to do the human-powered commute with you — for creating a foot-centric “carpool,” if you will.
Tip #2: Get Greener Gear
When getting fit, it helps to have the right shoes, the right clothes, and the right, uh, support. But before you go out to buy an armful of synthetic products (yes, spandex, nylon, and their brethren were invented in a lab), remember the many green-thinking companies that produce sustainable apparel made from bamboo or hemp and leave your money in their hands instead. But since buying of something new isn't always the greenest, you could also consider used workout gear — check the local Goodwill or Salvation Army for perfectly good threads.
Tip #3: Get Outside Already!
This isn’t just an aesthetic decree. It’s a practical one that’ll actually save a good amount of fossil-fuel energy. Running on a motorized treadmill is the equivalent of leaving 50 CFLs on while you exercise. Running outside? Priceless. For some, though, neighborhood or weather makes it hard to step out for a jog (though, really, it’s almost never too cold to exercise outside). If that’s you, wise up your gym routine: use human-powered machines instead of electric ones, choose facilities that have green measures in place, and encourage managers to run the joint more sustainably.
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