A global celebration of nature
World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5th every year to encourage awareness of the environment, in the hopes to gain interest and action for all of us to come together to combat environmental threats to our beautiful planet Earth.
It was started in 1974 by the United Nations and has grown to become a global platform that’s widely celebrated in over 100 countries.
At Curves, we want to make our community aware of the importance of World Environment Day, because we’re convinced that more people making small changes can help not only the Planet, but also our health.
What are Curves doing to help?
Our mission has always been to empower women to improve their lifestyle and health. Our daily commitment is aimed at promoting healthy habits, such as regular exercise and proper nutrition. But we know that the quality of our life does not solely depend on this, but is hugely influenced by the environment in which we live.
That's why it's equally important to take care of the planet Earth, so that it can provide us with healthy and fulfilling living conditions.
Some examples of how we’re trying to minimise our impact on the planet are:
1. We discourage disposable plastic bottles by having jugs of water available in clubs and producing our Curves reusable water bottles.
2. All our clubs are supplied by hydraulic exercise machines which are powered by liquid fluid power and your strength, not electricity – a significant economy of energy.
This year’s theme
The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is Air Pollution and will be hosted in China. Shockingly, 92% of people in the world do not breathe clean air currently so the emphasis will be on exploring methods of improving air quality for everyone. On this World Environment Day, the objective is to raise awareness among the population that the fight against air pollution is not only for governments and large companies, but that we can also collaborate to keep our environment clean.
A healthy and active lifestyle also benefits the environment!
Have you ever reflected on the fact that many actions that we can take to protect the environment also improve the quality of our physical condition and health, and vice versa?
The following suggestions are small changes you can make to your daily routine to have a positive impact on your energy consumption and your health:
- Leave your car at home. Choose to use public transport, cycle or walk whenever possible. This not only leads to less air pollution, but more physical activity helping you to reach your 10,000 steps per day.
- Choose fresh food over processed food as this is less likely to have unnecessary or excessive packaging that can often be non recyclable. Cooking with fresh, seasonal produce is one of the best ways to ensure your diet is wholesome and full of nutrients.
- A healthy and balanced diet will help you improve the quality of your life and the environment: you will be more encouraged to buy fresh products by walking to the local market or preparing homemade meals. This choice can have a significant impact on the pollution caused by food transportation.
- Reduce your meat consumption. Having days devoted purely for vegetarian or vegan food is the perfect way to combine sustainability and a healthy diet. Also, studies have found that people following a typical vegetarian diet consume, on average, around 500 fewer calories than meat-eaters. In addition to being better for our diet, greens and vegetables are easier to produce than meat-based foods, meat production being closely linked to the release of methane into the environment.
- Planning your meals can not only help you to resist cravings which often lead to extra calorie consumption, but also leads to less food waste.
- Stay Active. Avoiding lying on the couch every night after work, and having an active lifestyle filled with exercise and time spent in the outdoors will not only have a positive impact on your health, but can also help reduce your energy consumption on things like heating and electricity!
There are also a number of other small changes to your daily habits and home you can make for a more susitainable life, including:
- Look for the recycle symbol on products and always recycle whenever possible
- Use non-toxic cleaning products
- Limit water use – turn the tap off when brushing your teeth and try to have a full dishwasher or washing machine
- Replace your plastic items for stainless steel and bamboo alternatives (lunchbox, cutlery, toothbrush, cotton pads, straws etc.)
- Switch to LED lighting
- Encourage carsharing. In cases in which the use of public transport is difficult, due to lack of infrastructure or distance, car sharing with people who make the same journey is a good way to reduce circulating vehicles in addition to sharing expenses.
At Curves, we believe the environment and your health are intimately linked and caring for the environment can only benefit us, this is why we are firmly committed to this World Environment Day.
We’re always open to new ways of how we can be more environmentally friendly, so feel free to get in touch with any suggestions you have.
If you’re not yet part of our big family, please contact your nearest Curves club or book a free consultation now!