Do you consider yourself skilled, stealthy and smart at your chosen sport(s), or at least making forward progress on a fitness journey?  Whether you are racing through an obstacle course, balancing upside-down on a yoga mat, lifting heavy things or chasing small kids around (a workout in itself), there are always ways to step up your game in a way that benefits the planet.

This post is sponsored by prAna.com and I’m sharing a really great prAna discount code near the end. But first, read on to find out Six Ways to Step Up Your Fitness Eco-Ninja Game

Too often, I have found myself solely focusing on what my workout, run, or yoga practice can do for ME. Can I race to a personal best, can I stretch into a backbend so I can feel like a kid again, can I life heavy things so I can carry ALL the groceries in from the car at once?  Me, me, me. Fitness can be a very selfish thing, as it rightly, in part, should be – improving fitness and health is the very best gift you can give yourself.

But, why not also give a gift to the planet by bringing some “green” to your fitness routine. Stop talking, dreaming and passively scheming about “doing good stuff for the planet” (I’m talking to myself here, too). Let’s, actually be mindful to create positive changes in our daily living and fitness routines that reduce our collective ninja footprints (and really, should a ninja really even leave a footprint – haha).

Great ways you can Step Up Your Fitness Eco-Ninja Game include:

Walk the Walk: Go ahead a talk a big game, just back it up with action. Whenever possible, call upon human energy (like walking and biking) to get to your gym, yoga studio or other place of adventure. In addition to minimizing the use of valuable resources, you also get a bonus boost to your workout!

Buh-bye Plastic Bottles: I don’t understand NOT using a refillable water bottle, and I’m not falling for the “convenience” excuse either. I mean, did you know that 60 MILLION plastic water bottles are tossed away EVERY DAY and, IMO, it is so much easier to fill up your own reusable bottle in the 3.7 seconds that it takes to do so than buy and lug cases of this stuff home from the store. Plus, you are avoiding all the potentially harmful chemicals that leach out of the plastic.   

Mindful Activities: Sign up for a race or event that supports a sustainable, eco-friendly, planet-centric, humanitarian cause – just make sure that the race proceeds are actually going to a cause or charity that you care about. Or, start your own less official, but still just as beneficial, eco-ninja event. For example, my friends and I go “plogging” when we are doing group runs (and solo, too). Allegedly plogging is a craze that started in Sweden, but I think that some of us have been doing it in our own way for years – it’s basically just picking up trash while you run and disposing of it properly.  My friend Molly always sets the bar!

Don’t Preach, Teach. Aside from the preachin’ going on in this post (haha), I’ve always found it more authentic to share ways to be fitness eco ninja by teaching and role modeling. For example, from instructing people how to make healthy meals using sustainable, organic ingredients to letting my actions speak louder than words with my children.

You Are What You Eat:  I’ll keep this one simple, would you rather be a soggy, sickeningly sweet bowl of cereal filled with hydrogenated oils, plus appetite-increasing soy lecithin and BHT (created in a way that ignores the health of you AND the planet) or a crisp and colorful salad made with chemical-free, organic ingredients and topped with a sustainably-sourced protein for extra boom-bam-power? Lol, I could go on and on with the comparisons, but read through my blog for some great recipe inspo! I’ll get you started with my Paleo Pumpkin Spice Nut Butter . . . it’s so fall, so flavorful on everything!

Care What You Wear: It’s time to start asking questions about your clothing in the same way you do about your food. Light bulb moment. It actually DOES matter where your clothing comes from in terms of caring for yourself, the planet and its people. This is the main reason (in addition to the fun and functional styles) that I love prAna.com – they are committed to positive change in the athleisure clothing industry and have been since 1992.

Some of prAna’s initiatives and partnerships include using exclusively 100% organic cotton (saves SO much in water resources), responsibly-sourced down, recycled wool and other repurposed textiles; offering products free of harmful chemicals as part of the bluesign® program; and placing value on the well-being of the precious people who make their garments by employing fair trade practices. You can learn more about clothing for positive change and prAna’s sustainability practices HERE.

Always looking to further positive change in the clothing industry, prAna has also been making more and more pieces with hemp (no, you can’t smoke this stuff, haha). I’m talking about INDUSTRIAL hemp which is a plant fiber that has amazing benefits in the sustainable clothing movement – it’s fast growing, needs little water and no pesticides or insecticides to grow prolifically. 

In addition, the durable hemp fiber naturally inhibits bacteria growth (think no stinky, sweaty yoga pants), keeps you cool in summer/warm in winter, dries quickly, and has natural UV resistant properties. All typically without chemical intervention during the various stages of crop to finished collection. Right now, the prAna Fall 2017 Collection has 39 styles made with hemp blends (including all the current-season prana you see me wearing in the photos) and has even more planned for the spring!

I have an AMAZING discount code for prAna.com – please use JFISprAna25 at checkout to save 25%! It expires December 31, 2018.

What are your tips for becoming a fitness eco-ninja? Have you ever worn hemp? What fun fitness events do you have coming up – I’d love to chat in the comments, XOXO, Jennifer