A Greener Path to Health
Posted on 02-18-2019
February is American Heart Month, and gyms will offer everything you need to help keep your heart healthy. But, did you know there are gyms that are helping keep the environment healthy as well as our bodies? If you can't find a green gym, encourage your gym to make some environmentally friendly changes.
Energy Generating Equipment
Does your gym offer spin class? Hook those bikes up to individual generators to produce energy while the class works to increase their heart rate. A gym in Connecticut, Go Green Fitness, can power up to 75 homes from the energy produced by 25 bikes hooked up to generators. But, don't stop there...elliptical machines can also work to produce energy through individual generators. Look for energy efficient treadmills that will go into power saving mode automatically.
Water Conservation
Sweaty people want to shower off before returning to the world outside of the gym which can mean a lot of water going down the drain...literally. By installing a low flow showerhead you reduce the flow per minute in each shower which can add up to thousands of gallons per year. Also, toilets should be low flow High Efficiency Toilets to cut back on water waste. See a leaky faucet? Report it to your gym's manager.
Green Roof
There are gyms that have life on their roof to help cool buildings...green life, that is. Having a sod-covered green roof not only helps cool the building, but it offers a great space for outdoor classes such a yoga.
So, keep your health in check, your heart healthy and help your local gyms become more environmentally friendly.
Did You Know?
Today the United States is the second largest producer of hydropower - Canada being the largest. There are 75,185 dams in the U.S. but less than 3 percent are used for hydroelectric generation. Between 8 and 12 percent of U.S. electrical generation is produced by hydropower and only about one-fifth of the electricity produced around the world.
