Monday, December 8, 2008

Greening up your Pilates Studio: a TO DO list

after a recent bay area pilates collective meeting, i got to spend a little time with carol lemaitre at sanchez street studios. we talked about some simple steps we can all take toward sustainability in our studios.

1. replace any old inefficient light bulbs still in the studio.
2. make it easier for everybody to recycle, recycle, recycle.
3. print less. when you have to print, use 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
4. wise up on water! no more plastic bottles...
5. adjust your thermostats (take it down 2 degrees...)
6. turn off equipment and lights when you leave for the day.
7. walk more, drive less.
8. buy, use and sell things -- equipment, apparel,etc.-- that reflect your green sensibility.
9. clean green. (carol uses 16 oz. water, 4-6 drops tea tree oil, + 6-8 drops lavendar oil. it's lovely. and effective. like carol!)
10. consider being a neighborhood drop point for CSA (community supported agriculture).


are you doing what you can? do you have other ideas? let us know!

2 comments:

diane said...

the collective is evolving! now known as the United Pilates Collective Bay Area chapter, the next meeting is Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 5-7:30pm at The Mind & Body Center
of The San Francisco Bay Club

Margy Verba said...

Great ideas!

I have a "take the pledge to go green" contest. My clients can pledge to carpool, walk or bike to the studio and be enterred into a drawing for a free class package. They can also enter by pledging to carry a small hand towel and not use any paper towels (I understand this is customary in Japan). I will soon be giving out little hand towels with our logo on them created with cloth napkins from a thrift store and a fabric stamp.

Another climate control tip: our studio is in a very hot spot in the summer. We do shade and window management to keep as much cool in and as much heat out.

Thanks for a great blog,
Margy