No Membership Fees Required

Could it be that we have reached the tipping point – that we have touched bottom so recovery is inevitable? While you might think I am talking about the economy, I am referring to the epidemic of obesity and excess weight. According to an October report by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one-quarter of people worldwide carry around more weight than a healthy body should. More people now die from being overweight than being underweight: more deaths occur from being over nourished instead of undernourished. The February 2010 Reader’s Digest said it best, “…it’s our appetite for prosperity and all its spoils that’s more likely to kill us now.”


The good news, memberships at health clubs and gyms is growing in the U.S. – and predicted to double in the next 20 years http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/health-club-memberships-good-for-you-864104.html . Is the growth due to an increased understanding of the relationship between health and exercise? Is it the social aspect of exercising with others? Perhaps it’s the cool membership card. Whatever the reason, it appears we’ve had enough of the consequences of prosperity – at least as they relate to our weight.

What about the consequences of prosperity and the health of the environment? Could it be that we will begin to take a collective responsibility for the consequences of prosperity now that we are experiencing a collective wake-up call about an unhealthy environment? Solar panels will help provide clean energy, but reliance on them won’t stop our demand for more – more products, more wasted energy to run those products, more solid waste to create and dispose of those products.

Are we hitting the bottom of wasting too much money, too much energy, too many resources?

It appears so. Jackie Crosby’s article “A New Consumer” in the Sunday 1/24/10 Star Tribune Money & Business section talks about the “frugal mindset” of consumers not willing to live beyond their means. While the article doesn’t directly address personal goals for improving the environment, the environment will benefit from a frugal consumer – those growing masses tired of paying high utility bills, that are disgusted with sub-par construction standards in housing, and who cringe weekly at the gas pump.

The best part about a waste-less program - no membership fees are required.