Get fit to be green

by Tamsin McCahill on 28.04.08

How green is your fitness routine? We consider how your workout could work out for the environment too.

First off, here’s an admission: we’re not exactly gym bunnies here – in fact the last time someone broke a sweat in our office was when we heard the local bacon butty shop was closing down.

But apart from sheer laziness, one of the ways we justify our lack of gym membership cards is that the whole idea of getting on a piece of energy-using equipment just to use our energy seems like such a waste of, well, energy! And how many regular gym-goers do you know who drive the short distance to the gym, only to then cycle nowhere on a stationary bike?

However, we do still need to find ways to keep fit. So we’ve been having a think about ways that we can work out without running down the environment?

1. Find a green gym

Why pay through the nose to breathe all that air-conditioned air, when you could get a good workout (and do something positive for the environment) in the great outdoors? The BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Workers) has been running Green Gyms for 10 years and there are now 95 across the UK, so there could be one near you.

BTCV Green Gym groups meet in their local area for about three hours at least once a week. After an initial warm-up that’s akin to what you’d expect to find in any legs, bums and tums class, you’ll spend time (and more importantly burn calories) doing environmental conservation or gardening activities with a trained leader.

Although you’re allowed to go at your own pace, you will feel the burn. According to environmental website Treehugger some Green Gym activities use a third more calories than doing a step aerobics class.

And forget shelling out £50 a month to have a perma-tanned Aussie in a dental floss leotard shout at you, because all Green Gym sessions are free. Result!

2. Find a human-powered gym

Imagine if all the exercise bikes in your gym were linked to a central generator, so that your own pedal power supplied the energy for the TVs, lighting or air conditioning.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But some are already claiming to do just that. A Hong Kong gym has set up a ‘Powered by You’ programme in which energy burned by members is converted to power lighting fixtures, while excess energy is stored in a battery. Gym-goer Rita Wong states, “It’s very good motivation. You can watch yourself burning fat to turn on the light.”

The only other human-powered gym we could find was in Seattle, so realistically it may take a while before youfind one in your area. And to put even more of a downer on it, some experts have cast doubt on whether the scheme would actually benefit the planet at all. In fact, according to The Naked Scientists, even if every human in the world worked out, they’d only generate about the same amount of energy as three to four windmills, and it would probably be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to install the windmills.

3. Make small changes to your workout routine

Head outdoors

Save the cost of a gym session (not to mention all the energy used in powering the machines, lights and air conditioning) and go for a run, hike or bike ride..

Go to the gym

Even gym addicts don’t need to ditch their green commitments altogether. If possible, leave the car at home and walk or ride your bike there to get a good warm-up and cut down on emissions..

While you’re there, why not pour a little energy into setting up a pressure group with like-minded gym-goers to encourage the gym you’re a member of to recycle, cut down on electric use and clean their equipment with environmentally friendly cleaning products.

Drink responsibly

Buy a reusable water bottle filled from the tap rather than using disposable bottles full of mineral water.

Recycle your trainers

Don’t just chuck your faithful old running shoes in the bin to clog up landfill sites and pollute the environment. Instead, check out Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe programme. Reuse-A-Shoe takes your worn out trainers of any brand and uses them to make basketball courts, tennis courts, athletic fields, running tracks and playgrounds for young people around the world.