In case you didn’t know it, today is Earth Day. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 20, 1970 (the same year I was born, gah!) and has been growing in scope ever since! I don’t talk about my “big girl” job much on the blog, but I actually work for a company in the water conservation/pollution prevention field. So, it seems appropriate to relate my Friday Five to Earth Day.
- Stop using bottled water – There are plenty of options for runners to use while running. You know I love my Amphipod handheld and use it all the time. And if your house is anything like mine, the reusable water bottles seem to reproduce overnight, so use one of those instead for your daily hydration.
- Eat local – we all know runners are always hungry. Run over to the farmer’s market and buy yourself a locally grown snack. It’s likely to be fresher in addition to being better for the environment than that piece of fruit shipped in from the other side of the country.
- “Run” or walk your errands – I know not everyone has this option, but if Americans left their cars parked and walked more places, we’d all be healthier, including Mother Earth.
- Hang dry your running clothes – This is will actually make them last longer anyways as the heat in dryers is hard on wicking fabrics. Give them (and the environment) a break and hang them to dry.
- Skip your shower – OK, I admit, your loved ones might not appreciate this one if you run today. But maybe you could take a shorter one or skip it if it’s your rest day.
I’m linking up with some of my fave DC bloggers for the Friday Five. Stop on by Eat Pray Run DC, Mar on the Run, and You Signed Up for What?? for some awesome blog reads.
I always hang my workout clothes on a drying rack. I do shower everyday, but on days I don’t run, I usually don’t wash my hair and use my dry shampoo instead.
I hang dry all my running things, but admit I only skip showers on rest days. I did read something interesting on eating local recently the conclusion which was
” Local food may make you feel better about yourself, but it tends to use more energy and fertilizer per bushel to produce and deliver to your table; is no healthier than the alternatives; is less efficient, necessitating more land per bushel to produce; and every acre of nature carved out for a small, inefficient hobby farm is one less acre where nature can be allowed to flourish.” full article here if you are interested. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/blair-king/local-farming-hurts-environment_b_8626150.html
I’m on board with everything but #5. Even when I have to use bottled water, I try to re-use the bottles — like refilling mine at the hotel gym. I even bring my own cup to Starbucks everyday. 😉
Love this post! Yes to all of these – and we can commute to work as well!
happy earth day! i always travel with a reusable water bottle – can’t be w/out my hydration!!
I do much of this. I actually skip showers sometimes when I really need them, too. Mr. Judy doesn’t usually complain — it’s a choice between dinner or a shower!
I do occasionally literally run to the grocery store, but conditions have to be right. They aren’t too often, but I enjoy it when I do!
These are great! I always hang my clothes to dry and, sadly, don’t get the opportunity to shower every day. But I just chalk it up to conserving water!
These are great and I do many of them… especially skipping the shower one!
Great tips! I can’t remember the last time we bought bottled water, we’re all about our reusable bottles. But I have to get better about hang drying my clothes. I just chuck everything into the dryer.
I have water bottles for everything. It’s definitely easy to wash them and then re-use them.
I’m happy to say that I do several of these things (but not the shower skipping. No one wants that.). Do want to start biking to do even just an errand here or there, so going to noodle on that one. Thanks for the tips.
I like the skipping shower idea!! but that might be because I hated showering when I was little! I let my boy skip a shower/bath once a week.
I always dry my wick away clothes, I get scared that they will stop wicking … weird, I know!
Thanks for the great tips!!
It drives me bonkers that people still buy bottled water. I mean, at the end of a race what’s the difference between bottled water and dixie cups, but still. I love the races that don’t use cups and you have to bring your own bottle for water stops!
These are great tips! We hang most of our clothes to dry them. Saves energy, $$$, and allows our clothes to last longer!
I also take super short showers! I think I am just programmed to do that because growing up, my mom made us set a timer for our showers! I think she gave us 5 min. It takes me like 2 minutes to shower now. UNless I shave. 🙂
Have a great weekend!
Good tips except for the shower one :LOL. I do admit I enjoy a very long shower daily. I wish I could walk or bike to more places from my house.
I am pretty good on 2 to 5, however I am a huge fan of bottled water. It is a cultural thing… everything is bottled water here in France. And I never put any of my running clothes in the dryer. Ever.
Skipping a shower on a run day would be ROUGH, but I actually don’t take a full shower daily. On days I don’t workout (or barely workout), I find washcloth-baths are just as effective!
Does that make me dirty?! (Maybe by American standards haha.)
I try to air dry as much of my clothing as possible – both workout clothes and my regular clothes. While it creates for more ironing, it takes much less electricity to use the iron than it does to run the dryer.