How green is your workout? Is your exercise routine deepening your carbon footprint? Sports clubs and gyms consume huge amounts of electricity and water; as a step forward some environmentally conscious gyms and exercise enthusiasts have come up with ideas to not only keep you working out, but also give you a green incentive.
Sports clubs have gone green by cutting back on unnecessary usages of water and electricity, and have introduced energy producing stationary bikes that are connected to generators. This has motivated individuals and gym goers to not only give back to the environment, but also get in shape.
The Green Microgym
Personal trainer Adam Boesel created the Green Microgym, located in Portland, Oregon. Boesel is hoping by introducing the energy producing stationary bikes he could have his clients burning pounds rather than electricity. The Green Microgym has four of these stationary bikes, as well as energy efficient treadmills, remanufactured elliptical trainers and barbells that were found on Craigslist. The gym goes an extra mile environmentally by not having showers or water fountains, and all of their 70 members live with in walking distance of the gym.
How much power are we talking about?
According to a New York Times article published September 24 2008 “As riders pedal and turn the lever, the movement creates a current that flows to a battery pack. They generate an average of 200 watts, enough to run the stereo, a 37-inch L.C.D. television and a laptop for an hour at the Microgym in Portland. According to The Green Revolution, “An hour long spinning class produces about 2.5 to 3 kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power 120 florescent lights for an hour, and cuts CO2 emission by 4.5 pounds. And over a year, that spinning class could produce 3,600-kilowatt hours of electricity -- enough to power 72 homes for a month, and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.68 tons.”
The innovator
Every morning David Butcher, a San Jose Califirnia resident, starts his day by hopping on his stationary bike for 45 minutes. The bike which sits in his garage is connected to a generator which feeds power to a computer monitor, a cell phone charger and light and a small Roomba vacuum. David who is now 53 has been generating electricity on his bike for the last two years, but he created his first electricity generating bike in his early 20s.
What the future holds
There are large groups of people behind this green movement and Mr. Boesel says, "In 20 years, all cardio equipment will probably have the capability of generating electricity.”
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