For most, squeezing in daily workouts is hard enough, much less ensuring you’re helping the environment at the same time--but it’s easier than you think. We’ve rounded up some super simple habits you can incorporate into your workout routine (starting today!) that can improve your fitness performance without leaving a huge carbon footprint.
Opt for Outdoor Exercise
Burn calories while saving energy! By ditching your drive to the gym, you reduce the amount of gas you use and fuel you emit. Embrace nature. Running or hiking outdoors exposes you to different terrain you don’t experience on a treadmill. Unpredictable paths and unstable surfaces allow you to work different muscle groups and diversify your workouts. Breaking a sweat while minimizing pollution… Is there a better a health conscious combo?
Green Up Your Workout Supplies
WHAT you bring to your workout also affects the environment. Find an eco-friendly, non-slip yoga mat made from thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), a material that's 100% biodegradable and recyclable. These do double duty by locking out germs and odors too.
If the gym or yoga studio you visit uses disposable wipes, recommend an eco-friendly substitution. You can create your own yoga mat cleanser using essential oils like tea tree, grapefruit, lemongrass, citronella, eucalyptus, peppermint, oregano, cinnamon and sage. Now you can meditate with clean peace of mind.
One of the easiest green upgrades you can make to your workout supplies is replacing your plastic disposable water bottles with a reusable water bottle. Plastic waste is a growing concern around the world, and plastic bottles are a huge part of the problem. More than 60 million disposable water bottles end up in the trash every single day, most of which end up in landfills every year instead of being recycled.
Keeping a reusable water bottle as a staple during your workout routine is key in combating unnecessary pollution while also saving you money. Stainless steel bottles free of BPA are a great option. For longer hikes, climbs or cycling, consider a hydration pack with a refillable water bladder.
Be Sustainable in Style
That brings us to our eco-conscious, sustainable line of women’s activewear. In keeping with trends, many fitness apparel and athleisure brands are altering their way of producing clothes by going green. This is one of our primary goals at American Fitness Couture.
We produce ultra-soft American made women’s activewear with pride, using sustainable manufacturing practices and innovative materials like certified organic bamboo fabric (P.S. that’s supersoft--think if cashmere and silk had a baby!). Our premium performance athletic Tactel nylon fiber and state-of-the-art dye machines use 30% less water than cheaper fibers like polyester.
Our leading edge marking and cutting software program saves 20% less fabric per garment, leaving far less fabric cuttings, which typically go straight to landfills. Plus our superior fabric has both certified sports performance Moisture Wicking and Clean Silver Technology by DuPont antibacterial properties to help keep you dry and promote longevity in our garments.
We treat our factory workers with dignity, pay fair wages and promote work-life balance. We drive hybrid vehicles that get 50+ MPG to transport all our fabric and goods throughout the production process. And we reuse boxes and other office and factory materials for as long as possible before separating them to be recycled.
Doesn’t it feel amazing knowing that you can look and feel good, and be good to the environment at the same time? We thought so.
Get your hands on our Certified Organic Silky Soft Bamboo Side Tie Tees and do your part to love on Mother Earth!