It’s nice to see green folks get off their bike, composting, recycling and Prius soapboxes, and meditate and practice yoga, a little.

Equally, it’s nice to see yoga-doing healthy-living women and men walk their talk, off that mat. This year, the good folks behind the Yoga Journal Conferences agreed to forgo their usual water sponsor (just in time to avoid the skewering of Fiji by Mother Jones)…which meant voluntarily giving up a fair amount of financial support. Why?

Because of the Green Yoga Association, the organization that first and most effectively publicized the fact that yoga mats made of PVC plastic were toxic, and non-biodegradable, a few years back—resulting in nearly every yoga mat company offering an eco-responsible version! Green Yoga offered to offer filtered water stations all over the Yoga Journal Conference campus—enough for the thousand or so attendees—and to offer stainless steel (along with glass, the healthiest option) water bottles to the masses, in return for an optional donation.

This fall (Sept 20-27, 2009) we will be at the Yoga Journal Colorado Conference to help Yoga Journal make a few green changes.   The partnership with Yoga Journal includes providing water for conference attendees without the use of disposable plastic water bottles.

The conference is held in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado, which is at 8000 ft elevation.  This means that hydration is a key health issue.  Folks need to drink lots of water if they have travelled from lower elevations.

In the past,  water was trucked into the conference in disposable water bottles.  As many as 8000 bottles would be used once and thrown away.  Not this year.

Instead, we will have water filtration systems to ensure that healthy, clean, and great tasting water will be available.  The Green Yoga Association will provide stainless steel water bottles that folks can refill many times to fuel a fantastic conference experience.

And this conference IS a fantastic experience.  There are world renowned teachers who provide ample opportunity for growth.  There is a deep sense of community as the campus setting provides an fertile ground for meeting other yogis.  And there are the Rocky Mountains.  Majestic and wonderful.

Come on up to Estes Park.  Visit our table in the Yoga Marketplace.

The rest of the year, Green Yoga works to support the greening of yoga studios across our country. For more on their efforts, click here.

PS: if you’re at the conference, and appreciate our community being responsible for 8,000 fewer plastic bottles, be sure to mention your enthusiasm on the Yoga Journal Conference evaluation form.