Community Corner
Going Green Doesn't Have to be Big and Mean
Health & Fitness writer Dawn Runge discusses several ways, both big and small, readers can give a little back in honor of Earth Day this week.
Earth Day once again comes April 22, which aligns perfectly with my recent resolution to make my life a little more “green”. I’ve got a busy schedule, with which I’m sure Patch readers can identify. One of the books I chose to get me started is Do One Green Thing, by Mindy Pennybacker. I’ve been making little changes, and now it seems would be a good time to focus on how to lessen my environmental impact while working up a sweat.
Erika Peterson, 28, works out at Lifetime Fitness in Ballwin, and finds that gym-goers are often aware of how their actions affect others.
“It makes sense,” Peterson said, “that people who are conscientious about their personal health would care about the environment’s health, too.”
Find out what's happening in Ballwin-Ellisvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Reduce:
One way I’ve reduced my waste is by working out at home or in my neighborhood if possible. Unless your gym is close enough to walk, you’re burning some gas before you get a chance to burn calories. Especially in spring, when the weather is often mild and the flowers are blooming, you can mentally connect with the environment you are trying to preserve. Ballwin and Ellisville have many parks to facilitate outdoor enjoyment. Jogging, walking, or playing with your kids are all great ways to stay active and connected without burning money or gas fumes.
Find out what's happening in Ballwin-Ellisvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Your own body weight is one of the best resistance tools you have, and activities like plyometrics train your body as a unit, giving overall strength and stability in a short time. Machines are better than no exercise at all, and are great for beginners. However, many machines leave surrounding muscles susceptible to injury because they work one muscle instead of the muscle group.
Whole-body or free weight exercises mimic everyday activity, helping your daily strength, according to a paper by Jeffrey McBride of the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Best of all, anyone can do both of those at home!
If you love the gym environment or have appointments with a trainer, try to stop on the way to or from work or school, saving gas and time. Make your gym time before you need to shower for the day so you only have to take one shower. Speaking of your shower, bring your own Earth-friendly cleansing products, and keep that shower as short as reasonably possible.
While at the gym, consider using an online log or Smartphone application to log your diet and exercise. Many if not most of them are available for free through iTunes or your phone’s service provider. If you don’t like those new-fangled gadgets, use recycled paper notebooks, making sure they are post-consumer. Post-consumer means that it isn’t from the run-off of new paper, but has already been used in a past life.
Reuse:
One of the biggest ways to reduce your world impact at the gym is to ditch those daily plastic water bottles! From Pennybacker’s book, one of the interesting things I learned is that it takes twice as much water to make a bottle of water, than actually goes in the bottle. So for every bottled water you drink, you’re actually taking 3 bottles of a limited and precious resource!
In addition, bottled water uses up to 2000 times more energy than tap water, and is not necessarily safer (bottled water has been found to have toxic contaminants). Pennybacker backs up these facts with the report “Bottled Water: Illusions of Purity” from the Food and Water Watch.
For the same freshness, get a reusable, recyclable water filter for your home tap. Next, get a recycled safe plastic or aluminum water bottle – or three – so you always have one available. Keep one in your trunk, and two in your fridge.
Make it a habit to rinse and refill, and be stringent about washing if you get ill. Pennyback says to look for the following to know your plastic bottle hasn’t been shown to leak the toxic chemical Bisphenol A in your water or landfill: HDPE #2, LDPE #4, PP #5, and Other #7.
Emily Schilligo, 24, works out with her son, Chris, several days a week at Lifetime Fitness. Not only does she bring her own reusable plastic bottle, but she also brings her own gym towel as well.
“I have heard that washing machines at gyms use a ton of energy,” said Schilligo. Chris said he wants to start picking up trash around the neighborhood when he jogs with the neighborhood kids.
Also, when purchasing gym equipment, try to buy used. Resale shops like Goodwill may have mismatch items, but you’ll save good money and lots of waste made by abandoned treadmills.