Spring has sprung (or it will any day now!) and it was now or never. So I chose now, and I've started running again (thank you Andrew for inspiring me!). I was an avid runner before the kids came along, and I've been tossing around the idea of starting up again since, well, the minute the kids were born. But as you can imagine, life with infant triplets doesn't lend itself well to extracurricular activities - but I digress.
So back to running. In my ongoing quest to green every aspect of my life, I've been wondering, how can make my favorite activity more green. I mean, running to begin with is a pretty green sport compared to many others. You're not using any equipment, and you're having a minimal impact on your surroundings, unless you're running on trails where endangered species of flora or delicate ecosystems are found, but most of us stick to road running or indoor running (aha! Lucky for me, I don't have one of those power sucking treadmills). One way to minimize my impact on the environment will be to give up those oh-so-convenient, but very, very eco-sinful, single-packaged carb gel packs we long distance runners rely on to provide extra fuel for the long hauls. Honey provides a great alternative (but may pose a logistical carrying problem, unless I get a gel flask) or else dried fruit are great and easy to carry.
My biggest concern with running is the number of pairs of shoes I go through in a year. Long distance runners can go through as many as 3 to 7 pairs . OK, I am not so elite that I need 7, but you catch my drift, it all adds up over the years. So, what I will be doing with my running shoes is a) keeping a used pair for yard work and dirty jobs etc. and b) donating the rest to Sole Responsibility (love the name!!), an Ottawa not-for-profit organization which collects shoes and send them to Chad, Africa for Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad from violence in their home region of Darfur.
With a quick Google search, I came up with these other organizations which also collect used shoes and donate them to various causes:
Shoe 4 Africa
And finally, no more plastic bottles on my runs - my Klean Kanteen will be my new running companion.
How's that for running green?
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