Pick your battles.

I got at letter from someone who works at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. I actually know two people who work at that department and think they are really good men. I the email from someone else in that department sort of set me off.

Can you recommend to me a contact to install recycle bins for plastic water bottles? I was appalled at the number of recyclable plastic water bottles that are being thrown out as trash. Pure Fitness centers should have the image of being environmentally responsible.

Primary Club: xxxxxxxx

Greetings Marita,

You can use me as a contact. I know that you are a member from our North Tempe location so I know that unlike many of the similar emails I receive regarding being a more ‘green’ company you have actually been inside our locations. I will preface the remainder of this email by saying that first, I am open to dialogue. I respect the department you work for because you have some good people there; second, in 2007 this company was inundated with ‘seminar’ e-mails from people accusing us, a fitness center, of polluting the planet with the empty water bottles generated at our locations. Many of these people I found were told to do these bulk emails by seminar instructors after watching Inconvenient Truth; apparently health clubs rank up there with chemical manufacturers for destruction of the environment.

Also I think ‘appalled’ is a very harsh term for you to use in your e-mail considering the overall lack of environmental footprint a fitness center generates compared to thousands of other businesses in the valley. You are not making a gesture of cooperation by insulting my company.

Now let’s get on the same page Marita. I am open to discussion on this matter but want you to understand my position and what is involved in it being a success. First Pure Fitness has spent years developing a strategy of cleaning our equipment and our facilities with products that are hypo-allergenic and environmentally friendly. Our a/c filters scrub pollutants and are changed quarterly. Our air fresheners are of a quality to not harm members with scent sensitivity. Our products used to clean our equipment are environmentally safe. Our janitorial service is on board with our desire to maintain a healthy environment with the equipment they use. All our clubs installed anti-bacterial foam dispensers that decrease water usage and hopefully keep our members from transmitting illness. Our newer clubs have water filtration systems built in so that members can bring their own water bottles and fill them up with water they will drink, unlike the tap water produced in this valley that while suitable for use, has a filthy taste compared to other major metropolitan cities. Coming from Seattle I had never used bottled water until I moved to Phoenix; I had always used the tap. If your department is able to solve that one issue, bottle water usage will decrease in this city significantly.

I have spoken with Phil Denee, also a member at North Tempe and works in your department. At one point the North Tempe location did have blue recycling bins inside the club for recycling however there was no support from the city and honestly not a lot of buy in from the staff. Two large blue recycling bins would become full in two days and then sit over filled waiting for the garbage truck to come by several days later. The city, as far as I understand, would not or could not set up a ‘recycle only’ container large enough to accommodate our area of complex shared by at least two other businesses. Or the garbage truck would not take the recycling in the blue containers. It was, as I understood it, one hand not communicating with the other.

There is blame on this club for the program not working as well. The manager and Mr. Denee were involved but the rest of the staff was not. The staff did not care about the program and felt there was added responsibility in maintaining the overflowing containers in the gym. Ultimately the bins were removed from the front area of the club when they became a detriment to the aesthetics of the club and not a bonus for our members. No one wants to look at overflowing garbage bins regardless of size or designation. The members would fill the blue containers but the club had no place to empty them. Currently the two blue containers are behind our club by the main garbage bin and the three primary businesses that use that area are putting their recyclables in it. If the city is picking this up for recycling or if the garbage truck is clearing these and taking them to the dump with the other refuse, I don’t know.

The bottom line Marita is that this company has been accused harshly for not doing enough for the environment when we generate no power and manufacture no product. No one with ability or authority has come to us with a sustainable plan for our business. God bless Mr. Denee for the individualized effort he puts into this facility by collecting recyclables on his own. I submit to you that regardless of what size footprint my eleven clubs generates in a year regarding plastic water bottles, aluminum cans and assorted paper, one week of baseball games at Chase Stadium is worse for our environment if you allow a direct comparison of usage. One Cardinals football game with 70,000 people tailgating and eating and drinking over one day will create more empty bottles, cans and paper that gets thrown away inappropriately. So please let’s move forward under the premise of objectivity.

I want you to further understand my personal position on all this. I am not a tree hugging, save the whales, Inconvenient Truth is law person (and neither are most of my partners and key executives), however I am an avid anti liter campaigner, wildlife and woodland conservationist. I believe in green campaigns that are not based on fringe political agendas. Last year I was recognized by Tonto National Park as someone who personally picked up and disposed of over 500 pounds of liter around Canyon Lake. I carry large trash bags and equipment in my car to do so. I was part of the AMP energy drink experiment at the Super Bowl last week. I spent 12 hours of my time riding a bike with a thousand other people over four days generating power on special bike trainers that converted our energy to electricity and supplied direct power the entire stadium for their 30 minute sponsorship of the pre game show. It is a first of its kind experience and may end up in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most amount of human power generated in four days. I am a sponsor of Liberty Wildlife animal rehabilitation. I have first hand experience with the Exxon Valdez spill. I have spent weeks if not months of my overall life working to rehabilitate trails and create hiking paths for people to use in our back country. I also write online articles on being green from a conservative point of view.

So you see, while I am frustrated with the general tone of the ‘green’/ environmentally responsible movement, I practice what I preach and am open to suggestions that are not burdens on our company for your specific charge. I don’t believe that a company has to proclaim it is environmentally friendly or put a sticker on its door or a logo in its advertising to be a company that is invested in doing what it can for an environmentally secure future and I hope I have proven this with the information included in this letter. In the end remember this; our company’s main goal and sole purpose is to bring fitness to the masses, not have a neutral carbon footprint. If we can get our members into shape and increase the quality and quantity of their lives at a most affordable price, I will suffer the indignities of being deemed a business that is environmentally unfriendly because we don’t have an infrastructure for recycling.

Please come back to me with your feedback. What is your plan or idea for Pure Fitness to not only work towards putting recyclable material in proper containers but how that can be stored for reliable pick up from the city that does not ruin the look of the club interior? What are the costs associated with that? Once that hurdle can be addressed then I will work on a plan to create sustainability inside the club.

Regards,

Super Bowl: The Green Feed

I had my first energy drink evah, last night. Not bad. I've smelled it on enough breath to know what it would probably taste like. The last hour turned more into a spin class than anything else. Some great 70's and 80's music came up and people who weren't spinning were dancing. A bunch of ladies did a great Grease karaoke and a couple of people danced to Right Said Freds, I'm To Sexy song. Brave.

Here is the LINK to see what this is all about. Just click on the main box or the AMP energy event notice at the bottom.

I found that you can buy the trainers that generate the power. LINK Not a bad concept once I read up on it.

My thinking is that I could use this system, attached to a battery with an a/c connection to charge my cell phone, iPod, digicam battery's, sonic care toothbrush and electric shaver. I spend at least a couple hundred dollars on throw away batteries every year and could switch over to rechargeable NiMH batteries and recoup that money I think fairly quickly. The bonus being that they would be recharged by the energy I produced myself. They'd be totally off the grid.

Like all things 'Green' right now there is a cost offset. Meaning its more expensive than it probably needs to be but understand the originators are trying to make their money back on the investment and as the market becomes more competitive the prices will drop.

Super Bowl Event: The Feed

I had my first energy drink evah, last night. Not bad. I've smelled it on enough breath to know what it would probably taste like. The last hour turned more into a spin class than anything else. Some great 70's and 80's music came up and people who weren't spinning were dancing. A bunch of ladies did a great Grease karaoke and a couple of people danced to Right Said Freds, I'm To Sexy song. Brave.

Here is the LINK to see what this is all about. Just click on the main box or the AMP energy event notice at the bottom.

I found that you can buy the trainers that generate the power. LINK Not a bad concept once I read up on it.

Super Bowls Goes Green

I was able to take part in a Green campaign for the Super Bowl. AMP energy drink is doing a live marketing event that will generate power for their portion of the pre-game show. Ironic considering I have never drank this style of energy drink in my life. Yup. I've never drank a redbull, rockstar, monster, amp, redline, whatever else is out there. Nope. Not once.

The concept is that Trek beach cruiser type bikes, quite comfy, are hooked up to trainers which in turn have been turned into generators. The power generated by the cyclists goes into batteries which when piled up over the next few days.

I am usually a bit skeptical of these things, like does our actions power the DJ set up and the mikes and the lights while we ride? They did. In fact when we all stopped, the entire tent powered down to darkness. Cool. So theoretically the event is power positive in its offset for the goal.

Also, all the bikes and generator/trainer units are being sent to Haiti after this event and given to families so they can power their electric items in their house. Haiti obviously having a notorious habit of being shellacked by Hurricanes on a regular basis.

Among the group I was in for two hours were; my friend/training partner Andy, (Ironman), a Cat-3 cyclist who had already done 6 hours that day and two obvious cyclists behind us. We kept trying to see who could get the most amps out of our systems. (They had little digital displays that showed the amps generated by the pedaling). All of us got to eight amps, some a bit higher. We were told that our group for the two hours had the highest combined battery upload of any group that day.

What was kind of cool is that there was this massive bank of batteries in the bank and each group had a Red Digital Readout (RDR) that showed totals amps being uploaded. The more juice going in the brighter the green glow of the neon they put around the battery's. So we could constantly see our output compared to everyone else. And we were doubling the other groups.

In reality it wasn't a contest to see who could do the most. There was no smack talk or recriminations. In fact I was sweating my ass off staying in Zone 2, while most were just lazily moving the pedals, reading a book, texting, etc. To stay in my zone I had to generate about 3.5 amps and was told in general most people were just doing 2.0 amps.

It's a first of a kind event put on by GMR marketing using live subjects at big public events. All the participants are being paid for their time at $20 per hour in two hour shifts. I took a total of four shifts.

I also won a hat when I answered one of their 'Green' questions correctly.

Personal Responsiblity

Several issues (or challenges) have arose in my life or in those around me. For the most part they are those that all people must endure in life. Nothing extraordinary except when they are personally happening to you. In all things it is best to seek understanding and when that fails seek to see God in the picture. And usually what I find is that taking personal responsibility is more preferable to me than seeking assistance from the government. I would rather turn towards family before government.

My brother has a solid government job. He also has 15 years in the military, currently with the National Guard on the weekends. He is being deployed again in the GWOT (Global War On Terrorism), this time to Afghanistan. The difference in pay is drastic and they are shuttering up the house; his wife and two children, 12 and 4, will be moving in with our parents just a few miles away for the year he is gone. Our dad and I will be the father influence for his children and my wife and mom will be there to support us all, especially his wife. We are pulling together for what's best for the family.

My wife would be first to point out that when you pay into the welfare system with your taxes you shouldn't feel guilty for asking for government assistance when necessary, not as a way of life, but when in emergencies. This came up when a friend of ours went on disability for an on-the-job shoulder injury. The percentage of pay he is receiving from work doesn't cover the overhead and he has a one month old baby girl now. He bemoaned having to go down and apply for assistance but it had to be done. He will be out of work for some time. Many of us, his friends, have taken up the cause help with groceries, meals, etc. Its what we should do. Its what he would do for us.

When my family lived in the Pacific Northwest, the weather there is generally cold and wet. My father installed a wood stove in our living room and each year he and I cut, split and stacked several cords of wood in the backyard. The most used room in our house was always the warmest and free of charge.

SideNote :And for those of you who 'boo hoo' cutting down trees and polluting the atmosphere with smoke, think again. Even the most die hard enviro-whackjob will admit that burning wood is naturally occurring and not a part of the green debate.

The point is that there is options if you think of them critically. Personal responsibility is taking an honest look at yourself and what you can do to better yourself, yes that sometimes means sacrifice. Cutting some of the fat away from your expenses could go a long way to paying off other debt. Do you really need a monthly fee at NetFlix and Blockbuster and also shop at Hollywood? If you bought a spiffy $20 thermos at REI that keeps a couple cups of coffee hot all day long, think of the money you'd save at Starbucks each month? Probably enough to pay a credit card for the month. Making a couple of sandwich's before work not only saves on the calories you'd get from the vending machine during the day but saves on the cost of food. Spend $5 on some thick cut deli turkey and some cheese and you'll make four sandwiches for the cost of one at the store.

When your down and out, mentally, financially or physically, or hooked on a vice that is ruining your life its most likely your fault for getting in the situation. Exhaust all solutions to fix it yourself, then ask your family or close circle for help (if they haven't already) and then seek outside government assistance.

Double Standards

Double standards abound in our society. Its strange how one negative connotation can be accepted and another can not.

For example, driving to work today a newer SUV with a woman driver ahead of me had two bumper stickers on the window that were terribly derogatory to our current President, an elected republican. I did what I am sure most conservatives do; swallowed any indignation, shake my head and pull ahead.

I have a feeling that if I had a defaming quote against any liberal person or socialist cause or just a simple Fish logo, I would be flipped off or yelled at when stopped at lights. Pretty sure I would have a busted window or be keyed if I was parked in a lot for a day with a big sticker proclaiming my dislike with something.

I remember hearing about some of this occurring during the last presidential election, not just to vehicles but to conservative offices.

Its okay to wear a Che Guevara tee shirt or a communist hammer and sickle shirt but wear a shirt with a cross or proclaiming my support of a religion or partisan cause and I'd be derided. I have been derided in the past for wearing my vintage Ollie (North) for President shirt. In hind site it was probably naive but nevertheless.

As the election looms closer, the amount of bumper stickers will increase, no doubt. I will continue to shake my head, smile and say, "God Bless", treating them just like I do when people cut sharply in front of me in traffic.

35 mph is the standard

Congress passed a bill this week and President Bush has agreed to sign it, which starts to bring America into alignment with whats right instead of a-lining their pockets with lobbiests. The bill stats that the average mpg of American brand automobiles must be 35 mpg by 2020 along with several other increases in levels of sustainable, renewable energy sources used by the public.

I personally think it should be sooner than 2020 but overall, its a step in the right direction. I recently reviewed a report in a magazine for the mpg's of the most popular auto's sold and doing a comparison by foreign or domestic brand, foreign vehicles average significantly higher than American though not at the 35 mpg standard either. I believe the American standard in the report was 17 mpg with only two non-hybrid vehicles being over 20 mpg.

Detractors claim the boost in mpg will increase the cost of vehicles by about $7,000 and could be the end of the muscle car.

First, anyone who thinks car prices couldn't go up $7,000 naturally between now and 2020 is an idiot. Look at the increase in car prices in just the last ten years. Now project forward a dozen. Plus most people buy cars on what they can afford to pay each month and what gives them status not the overall cost of the item. For example, a Prius, the uber-enviro car can cost up over $50,000 and most hybrids are mid-$30,000.

Second, much like the oil crunch of the 1970's that brought us the Mustang 2, muscles cars will probably take a hit. But the key word in the legislation is 'average'. Dodge could easily push their new vehicles into the 35 mpg zone and then hybrid their current models out and still cover a few 9 mpg hemi's.

Plus, look at what you drive today. Could you possibly imagine driving the same car you did twelve years ago? Of course not. And your car today is probably more reliable with better emission control, its progress. You can't project your today vehicle on 2020 standards either. Heck in 2020 I'll be fifty and would love to have a 'space age' car that does it all for me.

Or a rocket pack. I always wanted to own a rocket pack. Think they'll have those by then?