Energy Efficient Exercise

Energy Efficient Exercise
As I was running on a treadmill at the recreation center here on campus, I noticed a commercial on the television. This commercial was advocating for a hotel, and at the end of the commercial it mentioned that the hotel is going green. The hotel commercial was saying that they do their best to be eco friendly. So I began to wonder if we were doing our best at the University of Montana to be environmental friendly. When I finished running, I sat dripping in sweat just thinking of how much energy we consume everyday working out at the recreation center. I thought to myself, “ How much energy had I just consumed running for fifteen minutes on the treadmill.” This sparked an interest in me to find out more about energy conservation. I knew that fitness centers are good for our health, but I wanted to find out how they could contribute to energy conservation.
According to Dictionary.com, Energy conservation is the attempt to limit energy use so that the growth in overall global energy use is slowed. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption. This can result in increased financial capital,

environmental quality, national security, and human comfort (“The Energy Crisis”1). Every day modern nations consume enormous amounts of energy to fuel their mighty economies. The vast majority of this energy comes from nonrenewable fossil fuels, oil is depended on the most, accounting for forty percent of all energy needs (Kerlin 1).   People use the energy for many everyday needs such as: heating, cooling, cooking, cleaning, lighting, working, traveling, entertainment, and much more. Industry needs energy to produce and distribute goods and services on which people depend. This raises the question, “What would happen if these fossil fuels were to unexpectedly decline and deplete in supply?”
The United States oil crisis in 1973 illustrates how dependent our modern... [continues]

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