plastic bottles

Working out takes a lot of energy – and not just the physical kind. You probably haven’t given much thought to the environmental impact of your workout — but the gear it takes to keep you comfortably, safely active can leave a surprisingly pudgy environmental footprint.

When I think of plastic #5 — polypropylene, commonly used for yogurt containers, syrup bottles, ketchup bottles, caps, straws and medicine bottles — I think of my mother going into a fit of recycling rage, ranting about the fact that we couldn’t recycle plastic #5 in our area. But the real story here parallels the BPA scare with water bottles and baby bottles …

A friend recently reported to me that she was taken to
task by a green-leaning colleague for selecting a juicebox to drink at a networking function. Juiceboxes, the eco-narc proclaimed, were NOT recyclable in their municipality. My friend sheepishly sucked on her tiny plastic straw, convinced that all her attempts to live green — riding her bicycle to work, growing her own organic produce — were wiped out by this one transgression.