Going green is a growing business. Clothes, homes, foods, cleaning products, simple everyday purchases and choices can all be centered around protecting the earth. Making your fitness routine green also has an impact on your environment. Earth-friendly fitness keeps you and your world green and healthy.

If someone asks you whether or not you are in good shape, you most likely think of your body first: how skinny or fat your are, how strong or weak you are. However, think about how what we put out into the earth will find its way into our air and food. The toxins in our air and food, even in our clothes, goes through us, into our children, and back into the earth.

Umbilical cord blood banking and testing recently led to the sad discovery that babies are born with hundreds of disease and cancer-causing chemicals and toxins already in their systems. Just one green choice in your home, garden, place of business, neighborhood, even in your workout routine, will make a difference. Think about how you exercise, where you exercise, and even what you wear when you exercise.

Here are a few fitness focused favors you can do for your earth, things that will align your physical health with the health of the world around you. To clarify, this article isn’t meant to point you to certain brands, but to simply let you know what working out green-style might be like.

WHAT YOU WEAR

How about a workout shirt made from soy? Gaiam brand clothing carries a unique line of yoga and fitness apparel made from organic cotton and soy blends. How about a global-cooling warm-up outfit? Planet Earth's Green Label brand hoodies are carried by Sprig.

Sprig breaks down “going green” into five categories: Vegan, waste-reducing, sustainable, resource-saving, and recyclable. “Planet Earth’s entire Green Label collection is made from either organic fibers that haven’t been treated by chemicals or from sustainable plants that can grow back quickly without draining the earth of its resources,” says Sprig on their site.

Earth-friendlier athletic footwear made one debut in particular when Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns modeled the Nike Trash Talk shoe during a game against the Dallas Mavericks. Nash’s new Nikes feature an upper that is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor, a mid-sole utilizing scrap-ground foam from factory production, out-soles that use environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxins and incorporates Nike Grind* material from athletic footwear out-sole manufacturing waste. As a final bonus, the Phoenix Suns' colorways have shoe laces and sockliners which use environmentally-preferred materials, and the whole package comes in a fully recycled cardboard shoe box.

WHERE YOU WORKOUT

Consider where you work out. If you have a membership at a fitness facility, investigate its recycling practices. Find out what stuff is made of. It may be a while before the weight machines go green, but portions of the weight floor, like the workout mats or even the carpeting could be. If you are thinking of joining a gym, ask them what recycled products they use and if the soaps and lotions they provide are animal friendly.

Take a hike in the woods, which is better than a walk on the treadmill any day. You can facilitate the upkeep of your favorite trail or bike path by volunteering to help keep it maintained or just picking up trash as you go. Use eco-friendly products when you’re out in the fresh air, and obey trail etiquette, respecting others and your surroundings.

A fun website called www.hikingdude.com details hiking rules and manners in an easy-to-understand format. The website also has a section entitled “Leave No Trace” that explains how you can minimize your impact on the earth while you are out enjoying its beauty. Where you workout isn't as important as simply working out.

WHERE YOU PLAY

Many adults stay active by gardening. Use organic mulch, and if you plan to put in raised garden beds, utilized non-treated cedar or stone wherever possible. Since gardening products go right into our houses and mouths, it only makes sense to raise responsible produce.

Children stay fit by playing, but they may not yet understand things that are environmentally preferred or toxic. Look for toys made from sustainable sources, like wooden toys with eco-friendly paint. If you find out your neighborhood is going to put in a new park or update an old one, get on the planning committee and lobby for equipment and methods that keep the earth and our kids safe.

Remember the old adage, “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without!” Make that old fitness gear last until it stinks too bad or falls off, and then use the scraps for garage rags. Workout shoes should only be worn for 100 hours of hard exercise or about six months, then you can turn them into garden shoes. Start a drawer of “grubbies” for clothes and shoes that aren’t fit to be seen in public anymore. Grubbies are great for painting or working in the yard.

When it’s time to purchase something that you truly need, first try to buy second-hand. Buy used or buy green. When discussing the interaction between our environmental and physical wellness, the cliché saying that what goes around comes around holds so true. Take care of your body and the earth, and they will both take care of you.

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