Although Healthworks Fitness Centers for Women has not found a certified green cleaning product for its shower area, it is using a more eco-friendly product in its showers and in other areas of its five clubs. Photo courtesy of Healthworks Fitness Centers for Women.

As Americans pay more attention to sustainability and green issues in their everyday lives, fitness facility owners are doing the same at their clubs.

Although some club owners are implementing green efforts, other operators are moving more slowly into the eco-friendly movement, says Will Phillips of REX Roundtables for Executives. In 2008, Phillips started a consulting company called GreenHealthClubs.org for health club operators interested in becoming more eco-friendly. Being green isn't a top priority for many club operators, he says, because the idea is still new. Also, green products are often more expensive, and operators are still unsure about the products' effectiveness.

That uncertainty is perhaps strongest in the green cleaning products sector. Cleanliness is next to godliness in the fitness business, and not everyone is convinced that green cleaning products are as effective at killing harmful germs as nongreen products. Plus, there is some debate on the definition of green.

"There are a huge number of products that claim to be green that turn out not to be. There is no real standard to be green," Phillips says.

Phillip Tierno, professor of microbiology and pathology and director of microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center, New York, says what makes a product green depends on with whom you speak.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the term "green" is used broadly to refer to products and processes that are better for the environment. The word has a range of meanings that vary with the user and context. The EPA defines environmental "preferability" based on its authorities and scientific principles. (See related sidebar.)

Regardless of this dispute, Tierno says that some green products generally are less effective in killing germs than nongreen products, leaving some people at greater risk of contracting illnesses.

"Don't be green for the sake of [being] green unless the green agent was proven to do the job," says Tierno, who authored the book "The Secret Life of Germs."

That doesn't mean, however, that people should not use more eco-friendly products, he says. Microbes and microorganisms have been around for nearly 4 billion years, and people shouldn't get rid of them completely, Tierno says.

"If you look at germs in general, there are 60,000 of them, and 1 to 2 percent are potentially dangerous," he says. "We certainly don't want to eliminate all of them. Most germs are beneficial."

Some people use green cleaning products in the belief that they are not only safer for the environment, but they are also safer for the people who come into contact with them. However, a representative of a cleaning product manufacturer says that all cleaning products — green or nongreen — have warning labels on them, which means that all cleaners can be harmful to people if used improperly.

Despite the disagreement about the effectiveness of green cleaning products, some health club operators have committed to green cleaning.

"We realized that with simple changes, we could do things for the environment that were beneficial to the members and something they would love," says Hannah Kempski, marketing coordinator for Healthworks Fitness Centers for Women, Boston.

Healthworks started its green effort in September 2007 in its five clubs, initially cutting down on paper consumption. Since then, the club has expanded to using nontoxic and green cleaning products on its equipment and in its café. The staff also uses an eco-friendly product in the showers but hasn't found a green-certified cleaner effective enough for that heavy-use area, says Kempski. Organizations, such as the non-profit Green Seal, certify environmentally responsible products and services, but not all products labeled eco-friendly are certified. Healthworks still uses a special cleaning agent in high-traffic areas, but it keeps the idea of green in mind when choosing the products.

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