Eco Friendly Fitness Tips

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Published on April 23, 2009

Looking to get fit outside while also helping the environment? Then you've come to the right place for environmentally-friendly fitness tips for hiking, backpacking and canoeing.

Great backpacking tips from Grand Canyon Trust Volunteers:

Team up with Grand Canyon Trust Volunteers for a free six-day backpacking trip to remove invasive trees from the banks of the Paria River. This beautiful area in southern Utah is a prime candidate for Grand Canyon Trust restoration efforts, which seek to protect and preserve the native plant species in the area. You'll work your entire body and burn 500 calories per hour. Go to gcvolunteers.org for information.

Take these hiking tips into the woods with the American Hiking Society.

The American Hiking Society offers a weeklong vacation in a state or national park ($245, including lodging and meals; americanhiking.org). With a wide range of destinations offered, you can travel across the country or have an outdoors adventure in your home state. Between hiking and clearing paths, shoveling and repairing walls, you'll work off 480 calories an hour.

Here are great fitness tips for those who love the sea.

Give the seafloor a sweep during the Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup. Volunteers in over 100 countries scuba dive for debris in local waters. During last year's cleanup, volunteers collected a total of more than 6.8 million pounds of trash from our oceans while torching 240 calories per half hour. For information, visit oceanconservancy.org.

Group canoeing tips: gather your pals for a day of canoeing for the American Rivers National River Cleanup.

Log on to americanrivers.org and you'll get free bags to collect trash that ends up in our waterways. With over 3,000 cleanup locations, you don't have to go far to find a river that needs your help. Bonus: Paddling ticks away more than 200 calories per hour.

Count on Shape for more:

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