When I moved to Eugene last fall, I decided once and for all that I was going to go green. I actually had no idea what "going green" meant at that time, but due to the overwhelming amount of non dollars in my account, instead of purchasing a used car, my dad and I bought me a brand new 2008 GMC Denali ..... bicycle. Now it may not sound like much, but besides my bed, television, computer, telephone, clothing and food, it was probably the best purchase I made yet.

Without knowing what I was doing, by not purchasing gas and doing all the great things that cars and trucks do to our environment, I was actually in the beginning stages of "going green". Yes I do admit there are things that cars are good for such as getting groceries or driving in the rain or snow but all in all I really had no need for a car. I can virtually ride everywhere I want in Eugene and everyone of my teammates has a car here, which is what I started dwelling on.

According to Epic Magazine:

2. For every 10 people who walk instead of drive a one-mile trip every week, we can reduce 500 pounds of emissions every year.

In fact one day, I had practice scheduled at Hayward field for 11:00AM when I decided to ride my bike over. I thought instead of carpooling with some of my teammates, the ride over would be a good way for me to warm up. I began doing this with all of my practices, including those up to 2 1/2 miles away. I would either run or ride my bike, but I would notice a trend with my teammates, everyone drove. It wasn't the fact that everyone drove that bothered me, it was that the majority of people that drove, drove alone.

What bothered me about this was not that I was riding my bike, but that as a group we were wasting so much and contributing to the problems which we face today with our environment. I think what bothered me most of all is that we are runners and we were doing this. I find it funny that runners will be willing to go on runs for 12-20 miles but in general have trouble recognizing that we have become lazy in certain respects of our lives, mainly wasting. Another thing that I found fault with was that I am just as guilty as everyone else who drove their car. I needed to educate myself and take more responsibility.

My teammate echoed my same thoughts:

I'm with you on the green thing. For being active, runners are some of the laziest people I know. Always have been, probably always will be. Use your endurance for something other than running circles around a track, ride a bike, or actually RUN an errand. There's a novel idea."

Runners set a standard of health and maximize the potential in their bodies by fueling properly and performing at our highest levels which our bodies will allow. If in fact we were to slack in our training and take a day off, or feed our body fuel which would not optimize output, we would do a great disservice to our goals and hinder our training. What I don't understand is how can most runners treat their bodies like a temple but not carry that through to the other aspects of their lives.

They key factor in changing habits is knowledge in this case. I don't think too many people would be opposed to being more environmentally friendly if they knew the right ways to go about it. In my mind it seems almost foolish for someone to not want to save money, help the environment, waste less and in many cases become more healthy from these practices.

The first thing I would suggest for anyone seeking this knowledge is to take the quiz. I was amazed at how easy it was to become more "green" by just changing a few things in my life. 

In closing, take the quiz, take a few moments to educate yourself and in the long run you'll be saving a lot more than just money. I love you.