Green Guide for Runners

Just how green is your footprint?

Everyone is capable of transitioning into a green lifestyle.  It's accomplished through baby steps--like turning the faucet off when brushing your teeth or walking to the corner store instead of hopping in your car.  Being a green runner is just one more way of integrating sustainability into your lifestyle. Active.com and Runner's World Magazine both offer handy tips for staying green on the run:

• Recycle your running shoes: Many running shoe stores will recycle your shoes for you. There are two Nike stores in the Chicago area where you can donate your old kicks to Nike's Let Me Play "Reuse-a-Shoe" instead of tossing them up out.  This program grinds olds shoes into new surfaces like basketball courts and running tracks.  Soles4Souls or One World Running are two other options for old sole donations.
• Hang dry your running clothes instead of washing and drying a small load and wasting water.
• Use reusable water bottles: Nalgene and Sigg are just two of many, many varieties of reusable water bottles.  There's no excuse to buy throwaway water bottles anymore.  Besides, reusable bottles are much sexier, like the Sigg bottle that aptly reads "Make Love Not Landfill." Go that extra step and buy powdered sports drinks to mix yourself.
• Carpool or take public transportation to your next race.
•  Run your next errrand by foot: Literally run to the pharmacy to pick up prescription or to drop off your overdue movie at Blockbuster.  Multitask while saving gas- can't beat that!
•  Sign up for a Green Race: Runner's World Green Team has an extensive website listing eco-friendly races and how-to's on green, eco-friendly races (i.e. using email instead of the standard paper trail when contacting registrants or by using onsite recycling.) 
• Volunteer to help clean up a trail or road you like to (or would like to) run on.

 These are just a few easy ways to turn your runs green and integrate sustainability into every aspect of your lifestyle.