A healthy body and a healthy environment go hand in hand. As a result, many club operators are “going green” when it comes to their facilities, as a natural complement to their members’ healthy lifestyles.
Two club operators — Dallas and Christy Neil of The Source, and Ricky Buoncore of Vedas Fitness — recently shared their experiences going green in a webinar sponsored by SportsArt.
The Source
For the Neils, the motivation for going green was “stewarding what we had been given.” However, the challenge was the gym hadn’t opened as a green facility.
Their solution was to create green cardio pods within their larger facility, that included green equipment from SportsArt, including treadmills, recumbent bikes, ellipticals and cross-trainers.
“As soon as we launched the green area, along with making some internal changes, we noticed members that value eco-friendly came out of the woodwork,” said Christy. “People have joined our club just for the fact we are making efforts in going green.”
In addition, the club earned a lot of positive media attention, which helped with marketing, and the owners were introduced to other green businesses they were unaware of before.
“Use of the equipment is a behavior adjustment,” continued Christy. “You still have early adopters and late adopters. Sharing the benefits is key and then allowing time for people to make the change and encourage them.”
Vedas Fitness
Vedas Fitness got its start as an eco-friendly facility, with a focus to grow the brand into a holistic health and wellness company that helped people live healthier lives and do good for the environment. The club has an emphasis on green materials, products and materials, include SportsArt’s ECO-POWR energy-producing equipment line.
“The ECO-POWR equipment was a no-brainer for us, as it aligned perfectly with our mission,” said Buoncore. “It provided a way to not only make our facilities green, but make our members workouts sustainable as well. Now calories are being turned into kilowatts to offset our energy usage.”
According to Buoncore, being a green facility has been a differentiator for the brand. In addition, feedback from the gym’s members has been overwhelmingly positive.
“When a member can see at the end of the workout how many watts they generated, it gives them just one more reason to feel great about their workout and adds a layer of motivation,” said Buoncore.
For further real-life applications into going green, check out the webinar here.
Rachel Zabonick is editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
