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“It’s not easy being green.” Kermit the Frog’s melancholy catch phrase caught the attention of millions of “Muppet Show” viewers and tugged at the hearts of those who cared about the felt frog as he sat on his lilypad while eluding Miss Piggy.
“Going green” is a more recent catch phrase, also attracting the attention of millions, but stemming from the drive to protect our environment rather than lamenting over blending in with it.
If you’re anyone who’s anyone, you’ve got green, you’re going green, turning green, voting green or now even running green. “Going green” is the old “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” on overdrive. It’s beyond putting the wine bottles and newspapers out for biweekly pickup; it’s more than collecting the beer cans from the family hoedown in a separate bag; it’s reducing our carbon footprint and becoming more eco-friendly.
But what exactly is running green? I wore my green Saucony running shoes yesterday and ran more on my toes than normal. That reduced my footprint, right? Not exactly.
A “carbon footprint” is defined as an individual’s contribution to greenhouse gases, the gases which scientists believe are warming the Earth and affecting the long-range health of the environment. This individual footprint is measured by the combined weight of the gases produced during a given activity. But how can running produce harmful emissions? We just lace up the shoes and go. Unless you’re celebrating the finish of Sunday’s long run with a bonfire full of tires, running seems pretty harmless.
When you take an inside peek into the sport of running, you’ll find more than your foot powder is being released into the air.
Runners require shoes, and lots of them. The high-performance footwear is made from heavily processed crude oil and petrochemical components and comes in a cardboard box that, more than likely, immediately gets tossed in the trash. Each day, thousands of truckloads head for the landfill that contain nothing more than waste created from assembling running shoes. And this doesn’t include the old shoes we toss out when our new ones arrive. Granted, running shoes are comfortable, help prevent injuries and are a necessary tool for the sport. No eco-friendly fanatic is going to persuade you to run in bare feet. But what CAN you do? A lot.
• Start more of your runs from home, bike to the start, or carpool with friends.
• Purchase clothing made with merino wool or from recycled postconsumer polyester. Wool is cozy and soft and has great wicking ability. And recycled polyester does not mean you have to wear Smelly Joe’s old shirt, it’s actually a brand new shirt just for you.
• Wash your clothes in cold water and hang them to dry. This will lengthen their life, reduce waste and be easier on your wallet.
• Support eco-friendly races which offer on-line registration, “green” prizes and promote recycling post-race garbage.
• Get extra wear from your running shoes after they’ve lost their oomph by wearing them casually or donating them to charity or a recycling program. Recycle the cardboard box in which your new shoes came.
The trend is catching on and people are leaning green. You can do a lot by changing very little, so lace up those recycled polyester laces, grab your reusable water bottle and get outside and play!
Elizabeth Schnittker and her husband, Chris, own and operate Running Tracks, Grand Junction and Fruita’s specialty running store with a collection bin for your used shoes and a bag for your beer cans. They welcome your questions and comments at rfrdepo@aol.com.
“Going green” is a more recent catch phrase, also attracting the attention of millions, but stemming from the drive to protect our environment rather than lamenting over blending in with it.
If you’re anyone who’s anyone, you’ve got green, you’re going green, turning green, voting green or now even running green. “Going green” is the old “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” on overdrive. It’s beyond putting the wine bottles and newspapers out for biweekly pickup; it’s more than collecting the beer cans from the family hoedown in a separate bag; it’s reducing our carbon footprint and becoming more eco-friendly.
But what exactly is running green? I wore my green Saucony running shoes yesterday and ran more on my toes than normal. That reduced my footprint, right? Not exactly.
A “carbon footprint” is defined as an individual’s contribution to greenhouse gases, the gases which scientists believe are warming the Earth and affecting the long-range health of the environment. This individual footprint is measured by the combined weight of the gases produced during a given activity. But how can running produce harmful emissions? We just lace up the shoes and go. Unless you’re celebrating the finish of Sunday’s long run with a bonfire full of tires, running seems pretty harmless.
When you take an inside peek into the sport of running, you’ll find more than your foot powder is being released into the air.
Runners require shoes, and lots of them. The high-performance footwear is made from heavily processed crude oil and petrochemical components and comes in a cardboard box that, more than likely, immediately gets tossed in the trash. Each day, thousands of truckloads head for the landfill that contain nothing more than waste created from assembling running shoes. And this doesn’t include the old shoes we toss out when our new ones arrive. Granted, running shoes are comfortable, help prevent injuries and are a necessary tool for the sport. No eco-friendly fanatic is going to persuade you to run in bare feet. But what CAN you do? A lot.
• Start more of your runs from home, bike to the start, or carpool with friends.
• Purchase clothing made with merino wool or from recycled postconsumer polyester. Wool is cozy and soft and has great wicking ability. And recycled polyester does not mean you have to wear Smelly Joe’s old shirt, it’s actually a brand new shirt just for you.
• Wash your clothes in cold water and hang them to dry. This will lengthen their life, reduce waste and be easier on your wallet.
• Support eco-friendly races which offer on-line registration, “green” prizes and promote recycling post-race garbage.
• Get extra wear from your running shoes after they’ve lost their oomph by wearing them casually or donating them to charity or a recycling program. Recycle the cardboard box in which your new shoes came.
The trend is catching on and people are leaning green. You can do a lot by changing very little, so lace up those recycled polyester laces, grab your reusable water bottle and get outside and play!
Elizabeth Schnittker and her husband, Chris, own and operate Running Tracks, Grand Junction and Fruita’s specialty running store with a collection bin for your used shoes and a bag for your beer cans. They welcome your questions and comments at rfrdepo@aol.com.
