How Sustainable is Your Workout?

Calling all yogis, dancers, runners, acrobats ... fitness junkies of all kinds! No matter what level of fitness you are, working out is a great activity that can easily be made sustainable. One of the first places to start is your workout clothing! We were just recently featured on Sustainable Jungle's 11 Ethical Activewear Brands for a More Sustainable Workout. This article gave credit to our ReActive line of activewear, along side 10 other incredible activewear brands that offer ethical and sustainable workout clothing.

While clothing can be the first step, shoes are a close second! Now, there are so many shoe brands out there making incredibly sustainable shoe options. Allbirds has their Runners collection, which is specifically for high impact workouts. They use merino wool, tree fiber, and recycled materials such as plastic and cardboard. Their wool uses 60% less energy than synthetic fiber, and ensures high standards of animal welfare. Their tree fiber is TENCEL Lyocell, which is FSC certified and uses 95% less water than other natural fibers such as conventional cotton.

Another way to have a more sustainable workout is, of course, a reusable water bottle. This may be the most common tip on this list, because having a reusable water bottle is easy, convenient, and more economical. But, it also has a major impact on the planet. The more reusable bottles the merrier!

There is also the workout gear you purchase. Whether you are in need of a mat for stretching, or boxing gloves for intense cardio, there are sustainable options out there. A great example is Manduka, which produces multiple different types of workout accessories all with the mission of having the least environmental impact possible. They create yoga mats, towels, bags, and much more, all with your health and the planet in mind. 

Possibly the least considered aspect of a sustainable workout, at least for now, is the actual gym facility. With so many different types of machines, ranging from treadmills to rowing machines, fitness centers are huge consumers of energy. But, now there are gyms emerging with machines that are powered by the humans using them rather than electricity. Called ECO-POWR and created by SportsArt, the machines use human output from cardio exercise to convert that energy into power that the machines use to run.

These are just a few ways to easily transition to a sustainable active routine! What steps do you take to make your workout sustainable? Leave a comment below!