We’re back. For me, the beginning of the fall semester brings a lot of “lasts.” I already had my last first day of classes. I’m looking forward to next week’s football home opener against Rice University, which will also be my last. And I suppose this is my last opening column of the semester. 

Last year I began this column writing about stadiums such as SoFi and Climate Pledge Arena seeking to host events in more sustainable ways. I went on to talk about athletes endorsing cryptocurrencies and pollution affecting athletes’ health. These stories certainly won’t be the last time sports and climate change make headlines – so I wanted to keep talking about them.

Sports can and have served as an outlet for athletes to voice their concerns about the rapidly deteriorating ozone layer and humankind’s role in the climate crisis. Furthermore, professional sports organizations, particularly those run by billionaires with money invested in coal and oil, must adapt their practices in order to decrease their carbon emissions and do their part in mitigating climate change. 

An unfortunate reality of climate change is that, at an individual level, we can only do so much – ultimately, the carbon footprints of corporate giants outdo the actions of everyday people as the climate crisis grows exponentially more dire. 

SportsArt, an exercise equipment company, is at the forefront of a unique opportunity to use exercise to save energy at a local level.

SportsArt machines harness the energy stored when someone uses an elliptical machine or stationary bike and pumps it back into the building’s power grid in an effort to offset the building’s electrical usage. By using an AC current to send the power back into the building’s grid, SportsArt’s method doesn’t require intensive installation. One simple plugs in an elliptical or bike, starts working out and  instantly creating energy that the building can use instead of relying on more harmful ways of obtaining energy such as natural gas. 

It’s a fantastic concept, and one that has many climate advocates intrigued. In a world where everyone uses oil and gas and throws away plastics and other harmful materials, SportsArt’s technology offers a chance for the average gym-goer to contribute to a human-harnessed energy economy. 

And should you need extra motivation on a long bike ride, SportsArt even displays how many watts the user is producing in real time. Some gyms, such as Sacramento Eco Fitness are already incentivizing going that extra mile, offering tiered discounts to members depending on how many watts they produce. 

If there has ever been a no-brainer, grandslam, touchdown idea, it’s this one. While SportsArt equipment is expensive, there is potential for a return on investment with a lowered electricity bill. There are thousands of gyms across the country and hundreds of thousands in the world. Additionally, buildings make up for 30-40% of all energy consumption. Unlike wind or solar energy, which require vast amounts of land and expensive construction projects, there is already plenty of real estate in the world that can play host to this equipment. It’s just an issue of replacement. 

Unfortunately, energy-generating bikes or ellipticals cannot save the world. A one-hour workout might produce enough energy to power a laptop for a couple of hours, but the decision to include more energy-producing exercise equipment is something that all gyms (looking at you, Lyon Center) should consider. Such equipment saves money every year and serves as a reminder for each person using it that, albeit small, everyone has a role in combating climate change. 

One can hope that over time the technology will improve to incorporate human-burned energy even more efficiently. While the bucket of carbon and methane gasses that have been released into the atmosphere is already overflowing, and it feels overly simplified to say that every drop counts, I’ll still say it – every drop counts when it comes to climate change. While we must continually push for corporations and large companies to reduce their carbon footprint, we must also find value and meaning in reducing our own carbon emissions.

Architecture + Advocacy empowers high school students to become agents of change in their communities.

The rapper’s journey from poverty to empowerment, premieres today on Prime.

A student-developed website hopes to democratize the world of cryptocurrency.

A student initiative led to pads and tampons being put in some bathrooms.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: