How is Moksha Yoga Orleans green?

As you know, it is the “Live Green” week of the Living Your Moksha challenge! As this is one of the 7 pillars of Moksha yoga, we thought we would share with you how we have incorporated this pillar into our studio!

Pre-existing Features
The space that we chose was an accounting firm prior to our arrival. We used most of the doors from the existing space.

Reclaimed Wood
When you come into the studio, you will undoubtedly notice all of the beautiful wood. This is all reclaimed wood from Renee’s father’s property near Mont Tremblant.  A mini tornado knocked down 125 acres of trees which we sas salvaged and dried, kilned and milled in order to use in the studio.  This includes the benches, the hallway wall, baseboards and chairs.

Cork and Concrete Floors
The floors in the practice rooms are cork. Many chiropractors and other health practitioners know cork as a flooring alternative for those with low back pain (think Birkenstock-floor!). It is comfortable and healthy to stand on. Also, because it is harvested from the exterior of a living tree, cork contains natural anti-microbes that prevent bacteria from entering the floor. From an environmental perspective, cork is a sustainable product as cork trees continue living and producing after the product is harvested. Cork tree protection is highly legislated in Portugal, where we order the product from, allowing some trees to live well past a century.

The floors outside the practice space are made simply of concrete, which means less consumerism on our part and cleaner air!!

Low VOC Paint
Most paints contain VOC's (volatile organic compounds), which once in the atmosphere, react with other chemicals to form ozone, a major component of pollution. Even paints that start out VOC free take on some VOCs when colorant is added. The paint used by Moksha Yoga studios is completely VOC free, including all colorants. Since much of a Moksha class is focused on breathing, this choice is also optimal from a health perspective.

Energy Saving Appliances
Our washer is a front loader built for low water consumption. It uses less than one third the water of a regular washer its size and we use less than half the soap of a regular washing machine.  Our dryer is also highly energy efficient and we even compost the  “fluff”!


Enviro Cleaning Products
As with all Moksha studios, we use Benefect for all of the studio cleaning. The products are hypo-allergenic (contain no perfumes, dyes, formaldehyde preservatives, ammonia or other common allergens). They are plant-based and thus can biodegrade very efficiently. They also do not off-gas preventing the inhalation of the chemicals released from standard household cleaners.

To keep the rental mats clean we use Benefect, a disinfectant made of plant products such as Thyme, Clove and Lemongrass. It naturally accelerates the germ-killing processes within plants; similar to our immune system. Benefect is certified by Health Canada as an 'anti-fungal' agent, proven to kill over 99.99% of bacteria, mold and mildew using aroma-therapeutic biodegradable plant extracts. It is strong enough to use in hospitals and safe enough to drink! Benefect will also be used for some cleaning.

Filtered Water System
Water filters are placed on taps to provide clean and pure drinking water. The Ametek Carbon filtration system filters out chemicals such as chlorine, lead and other dissolved heavy metals, rust particles, sediment, silt, as well as other VOC's and pesticides.  We encourage all our students to bring their own water bottles - in fact, we only sell glass bottles. No plastic bottles here!

Heating System
The studio uses Radiant Heating Panels that were designed by the Environmental Protection Agency for Energy Efficiency. The panels can be used in homes or commercial environments and can often cut energy consumption (or costs) whether gas or electric by up to 40%.