Even during your running, cycling or outdoor adventures, you can reduce your carbon footprint. 

Here are 5 reflexes to adopt to simply preserve your playground!

1. Reduce your waste

The first step for a "zero waste" sportsman is to use awater bottle instead of plastic bottles. On a marathon, having a gourd can prevent ten or so bottles from ending up in the rubbish bin. Does that seem a little too little? But if you multiply it by the number of runners and races, it represents a significant quantity.

To go further, don't hesitate to pick up the rubbish you find on your way! Moreover, this practice has a name: plogging! It's a discipline that combines sport and ecology, using movements such as squatting.To learn more about RUN ECO, click here! 

Don't forget to recycle, you are helping to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while preserving natural resources such as energy and water.

You can also take your snack in a reusable pot or in a linen bag for example instead of a plastic bag! 

2. Choose sustainable products: 

Eating 'smart' snacks means reducing waste!Favour energy bars with recyclable packaging. They considerably reduce the need for raw materials to be extracted and the processing of new materials. 

Choose natural, ecological and GMO-free ingredients. The consumption of GMOs is linked to many health and environmental problems. 

At Näak, we are committed to using the most sustainable, GMO-free ingredients, which are manufactured and transported in a way that limits their carbon footprint.

3. Reduce your meat consumption : 

The world population will exceed 9.7 billion people by 2050. Food and animal production will have to almost double to meet these new needs. 

Athletes generally consume 2 to 3 times more protein. If we continue to consume animal proteins as we do, the planet we know today will no longer exist because animal protein farming is not sustainable: it wastes a lot of water and contributes to deforestation and global warming. 

Choosing cricket orvegetable proteins, they are the future according to experts, because they use fewer natural resources, are less polluting and have many advantages, which explains why many athletes have already adopted these solutions.

According to a United Nations report on food safety, the use of cricket protein is an ideal alternative to meat and certain nutrients. It requires 2,000 times less water than beef. Yes, 2,000 times less! And that's not all, it produces 100 times less greenhouse gases, uses 13 times less arable land and 12 times less food.

There is mounting evidence that plant-based diets are more sustainable than animal-based diets because they use fewer natural resources and are less polluting.The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that, on average, animal protein production consumes 11 times more fossil energy than plant proteins for human consumption. 

You can click here to see how much greenhouse gases, water, land and food we have saved since the beginning by simply replacing beef protein with cricket protein. 

4. Forget the equipment, work out with your body

That treadmill, that exercise bike? They run on electricity! And like any piece of equipment, it took energy to make them and transport them. A gym must also keep the lights on, no matter how many people are in it. Of course, all this consumes energy. 

We therefore advise you to train at home or in the park. This is an excellent way to reduce energy consumption, especially if you replace equipment-based exercises with exercises based on body weight. 

Impossible to ignore it, the question no longer even arises for our favourite machines: cars! 

To reduce your ecological footprint on the transport side :

• Prefer public transport
• Opt for carpooling 
• Get around as much as possible on scooters, bicycles, rollerblades, skateboards and even with your running shoes on!

Try to do it once a week, or adopt it! 

5. Don't throw away your equipment any more: 

The 4 R's are an ecological method to achieve more coherence in our daily lives and to take a step back from our society and the planet as a whole. 

Refuse : 

The best waste is the waste you don't produce: a proactive approach. Stop taking plastic cups and bottles, replace them with your own water bottle! To refuse is also to become aware of all the little pieces of waste that pollute our daily lives.

Reduce : 

The idea here is to reduce your consumption, whether in terms of purchases or meat. Athletes' protein requirements are about 2 to 3 times higher than those of other people. So if we continue to consume animal proteins as we do, the planet we know today will no longer exist because animal protein farming is not sustainable: it wastes a lot of water and contributes to deforestation and global warming. In addition to the ecological advantage, more and more athletes are giving up meat and if you want to know more,click here. 

Reuse : 

Today there are many sites selling second-hand objects such as Kijiji, Facebook Market,... In addition, many associations are in need to help the most destitute! So before recycling, ask yourself if it can have a new use or a second life! 

Recycle : 

As you know, environmental protection is a subject that concerns us all! At Näak we are committed to these 2 commitments in order to contribute to the protection of our playground.

• Donate 1% of our profits to environmental initiatives to protect the planet. 
• Switch to recyclable and/or compostable packaging for all our products by 2025

All you need to do is find out how to recycle properly in your area!

Now you have all the tools you need to reduce your carbon footprint in your training and adventures. Don't forget that the important thing is to act each at our own level on the elements we control. Together, let's preserve our playground! To find out more about the initiatives at Näak,click here.