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Eco Warriors Demand Greener Gyms
There are a number of different pieces of equipment which can be used by gyms in London and other cities to generate energy from the power of its members. Treadmills can be converted so that they are powered entirely by dynamos creating energy from that exerted by the user. The same technology can be applied to exercise bikes, rowing machines and other popular pieces of CV equipment. The University of Oregon recently concluded that using 20 machines like this for between six and eight hours daily should generate enough electricity to power a small energy-efficient house for a year! With evidence such as this increasing, surely it is about time that gyms in London already started to address their green credentials. Every other sector seems to have made small steps towards offsetting their carbon footprint, but gyms seem to be stuck in the 1990's. The main problem for gyms is surely the cost of replacing or improving their existing equipment so that it generates energy through users burning calories. This is an area that the government should surely look at in terms of providing grants or subsidies for gyms that want to convert their equipment on this basis. It is already an area the government supports through the installation of solar panels at residential properties and on that basis surely it is not a big step to extend this to other sectors where we can offset our requirements for fossil fuels. The science behind generating electricity from gym equipment is not new. For decades people have been using dynamos on their bikes to power the front and rear lamps. Generating power in a gym setting is based on the same principle. Imagine that everyone is working extra hard and you have a lot of people doing it at the same time, and a machine like the dynamo. If you figure a 100 watts per machine and you have 40 machines that's 4,000 watts. For gyms that adopt this technology early, it could prove to be a real differentiator from their competitors. If customers had the choice of gyms that did allow users to generate their own electricity then perhaps this could become a unique selling point, if only on the basis of curiosity initially! Another option would be to subsidise gym memberships for gyms that offer eco-friendly equipment, perhaps by way of a VAT reduction if a gym can demonstrate that it has reduced its fossil fuel requirements in the same way that employees get better tax breaks on company cars with reduced CO2 emissions. Trends set in the USA almost always travel to the UK so it is hard to imagine that gyms won't adopt this new technology at some point. Perhaps the economic climate has reduced the appetite of gyms to move in this direction, but ultimately it makes too much sense not to go down this route at some point. There is one notable exception to this lack of development and that is The Gym Group that has actually pushed ahead and integrated energy generating equipment in their gyms. They have even gone as far installing Thirsty Planet bottled water whose sole purpose is to raise money for the provision of clean water in Africa. This is an excellent step in the right direction and proves that it is not impossible for gyms (at least in London) to adopt green technology regardless of the economic climate. However, it cannot solely be the responsibility of commercial organisations to make this change and the government should be under more pressure to support initiatives such as this. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com payasUgym wil be providing further details on eco-friendly gyms in London adn rest of the UK in the near future. |
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