Now that the weather has finally warmed, there’s no better time for you to green your fitness routine—literally! Studies show that being outside lifts the mood, and it’s good for your well-being.
Take advantage of the beautiful Massachusetts scenery by walking or biking outdoors. You’ll forego the gym fee, avoid the drive to the gym and in turn, do something good for your body and the environment. Whether you’re squeezing in a walk with your neighbor and the dog or you’re doing some yard work, burning calories while outdoors has all-around positive side effects. And, do not forget about options that bring out your inner child like jumping rope or taking a swim. Both are great ways to torch calories.
Eco-friendly workouts aren’t limited to the great outdoors. If you’re in search of an eco-friendly workout solution for your home, there are several no-power options on the market from which to choose.
One machine is the WaterRower (www.waterrower.com). The machine’s body is made from Appalachian hardwood, and its WaterFlywheel offers a specially designed paddle to push moving water to create resistance. Resistance depends on how intensely you row, which lets you work at your own pace and comfort level. Rowing machines are great to consider, as they work 84 percent of your muscle mass and allow you to burn more than 1,000 calories in an hour. Other benefits of rowing include better posture and joint support. If rowing doesn’t interest you, non-motorized treadmills and ski machines that can reduce your carbon footprint may be more to your liking.
Other ways to keep your home routine green is to start weight lifting. Investing in a set of weights, exercise bands, medicine balls or stability balls for your house lets you get in a set of bicep curls when you have an extra 10 minutes in your day. You can also do exercises that require no equipment at all, like lunges, crunches and push-ups. Each exercise is extremely effective and easy to do on your own, letting you put forth energy without wasting any of the Earth’s.
With all of the options available that allow for your exercise routine to be kind to the planet, the only thing left is sustainable workout gear to make you look good while doing it. Patagonia is a great place to begin your search for quality clothes that are organic or made from recycled material.
Patagonia offers the Common Threads Initiative, where you can recycle old garments to be melted down and made into new fiber for brand new clothes. “What we’re trying to do is close the loop of the product cycle,” Chris Pirrello, the assistant manager of Patagonia Boston, says. Of the product line, about 60 percent is made from recyclable materials, and almost 100 percent of the garments are recyclable at the end of their use.
Another environmental initiative from Patagonia is The Footprint Chronicles. This website actually shows the consumer stats and figures on a particular garment’s affect on the planet; for example, how much waste a garment produces, how much water is used in making the garment and how much fuel is used in the delivery of the product. “Patagonia doesn’t say ‘Hey, we’re green,’” Pirrello says. “We’re actually showing you our process of where we’re at.”
Patagonia’s commitment to being kind to the planet isn’t brand new, but it has been an industry trailblazer. In the early 90s, the company researched which products were most harmful to the planet, discovering that the material with the highest environmental impact was cotton. “The fabric of our lives is kind of the fabric of our deaths,” Pirrello says. The shift to organic cotton has been quiet and slow, but using commercial cotton is where the entire clothing industry is doing the most damage to the environment, due to the pesticides used in abundance that contaminate the soil and water supply.
When looking for new workout gear consider doing some research so that you won’t just look good, but you can feel good in your environmentally friendly wardrobe.
By Lauren Kaminski
