What most people don’t think about when improving the environment is their fitness regime. As it is now, with fast fashion activewear, diets that waste food, and gyms that use up a lot of energy, our exercise regimes are a huge contributor to climate change.
Just getting a workout in seems hard enough if you are like me but making sure it also doesn’t impact the environment seems that much more difficult. While it does seem difficult, there are a few ways you can make your fitness eco-friendly without putting in too much extra effort.
Workout Outdoors
While working out indoors in the comfort of our homes or at the gym is preferable to most of us, working out outdoors is a great way to minimize the energy you waste. Exercise equipment and gyms as a whole use up huge amounts of electricity and minimizing this can benefit the environment significantly.
Exercising outdoors will also condition you to get used to the outdoor environment. The natural environment of inclines and various terrain will train so many more muscle groups than most gym equipment.
Go ‘Plogging’
A mixture of ‘jogging’ and ‘plocka’. Plocka means ‘to pick’ in Swedish, and this exercise combines walking, jogging, or running with picking up trash on the way. This way, you not only get a good workout through running, but you also use and train multiple different muscles as you squat, bend, and stretch to pick up rubbish.
Plogging allows you to clean up the environment while letting you burn some much-needed calories. Just make sure to dispose of the trash in an environmentally friendly manner when you are finished.
Buy Sustainable Equipment
Do not buy single-use plastic water bottles as your hydration option for your workout. Invest in a good quality, refillable water bottle instead of buying a new water bottle every time you work out. You can choose from so many brands that exist in the space of making quality, refillable water bottles that are better for the environment.
Wear Sustainable Workout Gear
The fast fashion industry has a huge carbon footprint, and activewear for working out is not safe from fast fashion either. A lot of activewear is made from fabric and materials like nylon which is non-biodegradable and requires almost triple the amount of energy to produce in comparison to cotton.
Research and buy workout gear (and clothes in general) from companies that are committed to eco-friendly manufacturing and ethical labor practices. Clothes made from hemp or bamboo are good environmentally friendly alternatives.
Recycle
Recycling is the simplest of ways you can help the environment. Instead of throwing away your old and used workout gear, find somewhere you can repurpose it or look to donate it to a local charity.
Exercise shoes get ruined insanely quickly sometimes and instead of throwing them away, donate them as they are still wearable and usable. Even if you think something is completely unwearable, try dropping it off at a local recycling plant.
Also, instead of purchasing new gear and equipment, try to purchase second-hand. Consignment shops are great places to get used gear in good condition.
Not just clothes, if you are looking to purchase exercise equipment, try and look for used equipment in good condition. You will be saving the environment, and some money!