Green Your Workout Routine

How about taking an environmental initiative and giving your health and the environment a clean start by greening your exercise routine?

You may not think that a few simple actions can help you lose weight and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time, but if you follow these tips you’ll be well on your way to a green exercise routine:

1. Try a reusable water bottle.
Staying hydrated is important when you exercise so instead of buying a pack of bottled water and creating more plastic waste how about using a stainless steel or recycled water bottle that you can wash and reuse again.

2. Eat organic.
Get your energy boost with organic cereal and granola bars, or try a homemade smoothie by mixing organic yogurt, orange juice and fruit together in a blender.

3. Walk, run, or ride a bike.
You don’t need an exercise machine that uses electricity to help you burn calories, if the weather’s good. You can always get your green exercise by walking, running, or riding a bike around a park or neighborhood. You can even take along biodegradable bags and pick up trash and recyclable aluminum cans along the way to help clean up your surroundings.

4. Dress the part.
Whether you need a sports bra, running shorts, or workout sneakers you can always find clothing and accessories made from organic cotton, recycled fabric, bamboo, and other natural ingredients. You should also donate your old workout clothes to thrift stores.

5. Plant a garden.
If you have a backyard with available space or know someone who does then you can get a weekly workout by planting a garden this spring. All the digging, planting, watering, and weeding will give you a great workout every time you visit the garden, plus you can eat your organic fruits and vegetables as a healthy meal! To be extra eco friendly you can reuse rainwater caught in a barrel to water the plants.

6. Save water: Wash your towels less.
Most likely you are going to take a shower after a heavy workout. If you use a towel to wipe away sweat, you don’t have to wash it after its first use. Reuse the towel a few times more since you’re going to take a shower anyways. This will help conserve water because you’ll be using the washing machine less.

7. Try natural deodorants.
Many deodorants contain harmful ingredients such as aluminum and formaldehyde, so freshen up after your hard workout by using deodorants made from all natural plant-based ingredients or make your own. Also, make sure that the product is certified “cruelty-free” to prove that it has not been tested on animals.

8. Encourage your gym to go green.
Some gyms are starting to install green cardio equipment, which usually uses energy from your pedaling or running to generate electricity, which is then used to power the gym.

Make these tips a part of your daily eco lifestyle routine. You’ll not only get in shape but help out the environment.

Help make the world a healthier place -- start your career as a health care professional today! For more information on healthcare careers, visit http://www.healthcarejobsiteblog.com/

Bambi Blue is a freelance writer, editor, and codemonkey living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She moonlights as a jazz musician, a social butterfly, and most apparently a weisenheimer. Loves to cook, hates to clean, and can easily be found on Twitter.

Why Go Organic?

So why eat organic foods anyway? Why are they better than your average grocery store fare? Well, for one, organic foods are foods that aren’t covered in chemicals such as insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. I, for example, am violently allergic to a lot of chemical preservatives and a lot of these spray chemicals trigger the same reaction: sore stomach, headache, nausea, blurred vision… I could go on. And it can be a bad scene for those who aren’t even allergic to any chemicals, too!


Plenty of EPA-approved pesticides were approved a long time ago –before research linked these chemicals to cancer and other debilitating diseases. Currently the EPA considers 60% of all herbicides, a whopping 90% of all fungicides and 30% of all insecticides to be potentially carcinogenic.

Taste is an individual matter, but many gourmet chefs are choosing to use organic foods in the recipes, due to the superior flavour and quality of these products. A growing number of consumers — including yours truly — are also claiming that organic food tastes better.

I mean, doesn’t it make sense to you that foods grown naturally in well-balanced soils and ripened by the big, happy summer sun will be healthier and tastier than products raised on a diet of smelly, wildlife and bug-killing chemicals? Then they’re sprayed with preservatives that allow them to sit for months in storage. What are these chemicals and preservatives doing to your insides? Do you think it’s possible that they’re strong enough to kill pests, make plants grow faster/bigger, and last for weeks on a shelf without having a negative affect on your insides? I don’t know first hand, but I’m sceptical at best.

Try organic food for yourself and see what you think — is it tastier? Does it smell better?

For more information on health careers, visit http://www.healthcarejobsiteblog.com/

Bambi Blue is a freelance writer, editor, and codemonkey living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She moonlights as a jazz musician, a social butterfly, and most apparently a weisenheimer. Loves to cook, hates to clean, and can easily be found on Twitter.