Training Green

In Hong Kong, at the California Fitness Club (owned by 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide), "power training" takes on a whole new meaning. Members can simultaneously pedal for fitness and help the environment. The club has rigged a number of its stairmasters and ellipticals to create electricity when being used. The generated energy is stored in a battery and used to power the club's lights etc.

The March 1st WSJ ran a detailed article describing California Fitness' creative energy saving program. The article also quantified the impact of gym members' sweaty investment. With 13 machines equipped to generate power and assuming a max 10 hours a day of usage only about $185 worth of electricity can be created for an entire year. 24 Hour Fitness corporate is tracking the program and could implement similar initiatives depending upon the results.

This isn't the first time we've read about smaller scale renewable energy efforts. One of our favorite Energy Bar makers, Clif Bar, sells $2 "Cool Tags" at various events and donates the proceeds to offsetting carbon emissions. Since we're not totally convinced as to the efficacy of such offset programs, we're glad that Clif first advocates living more "green" as the best way to preserve the environment. (In fact, when I lived in Vancouver, B.C., as a kid, our swimming pool was solar heated. The neighbors thought we were odd Yanks.)

Mitigating one's non-green behavior by purchasing "carbon offsets" is becoming more common. Feeling guilty about your gas guzzling daily commute via your plush SUV when you could opt for public transportation, or for your $500/month in natural gas consumption used to heat your palatial house replete with pool and pool house? No problem. Simply hand over a portion of your wages to one of many carbon offset providers. This is what Al Gore does. Although, I think I agree with critics like English environmentalist George Monbiot who liken these guilt assuaging programs to purchasing indulgences. Remember your Medieval History?

On the other end of the be more green spectrum are individuals like Ed Begley Jr., who go ALL OUT to ensure that their ecological footprint is virtually nil.

Here are some of the measures the 57-year old former star of "St. Elsewhere" and more recently of "For Your Consideration" takes: boils water on a sun-heated oven in the backyard, pedals a generator equipped stationary bike for 15 minutes to power his toaster, collects rainwater to nourish his organic garden, drives a Prius hybrid, lives in a 1,700 solar heated home that sports a countertop made of recycled Coca-Cola bottles, and of course buys mostly recycled goods; including toilet paper!

How green are you?