Clean and Green

One of the primary pillars that makes Blaze Yoga and Pilates is our commitment to a GREEN approach. We believe strongly that all of our actions should contribute to a cleaner and greener studio, region, country, and planet.

With that in mind, we are always working to offer the most effective, green, sustainable environment possible so that we can all thrive, together.

Is the studio clean? I'll start to answer the first question with a question back: have you met my husband, Jaylon? He steam cleans our carpets at home for fun. At the end of a long, hard day, he just wants to hot steam-mop the kitchen floor.

A rare sighting of Jaylon in his natural habitat.



As you can imagine, our bathrooms get a lot of use. That's why we have cleaners to scrub the bathrooms, including the walls, every single day of the week. The shower curtains are changed three times a week and the bath mats are changed after every class.

What do you use to clean the studio?
I grew up in Vermont where green isn't a buzz word. It'a way of life. We use simple and natural cleaners wherever possible like vinegar and water or baking soda.

When simple cleaners don't cut it, we use the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep scale to be sure all products get good marks for health and safety. We partner with companies like Shaklee and doTERRA to provide you with clean, green, and sustainably-produced cleaners. We use Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap in our showers and bathrooms. Our laundry soap is always free from endocrine-disrupting additives and perfumes.


Why not?

For all of my real germophobes, rest assured that you'Our Big Ass Fans aerodynamic Haiku ceiling fans maximize air movement with minimal energy consumption. Our three ceiling fans consume less energy than one standard ceiling fan.”re much safer in a hot, sweaty yoga class than you are opening the door to your doctor's office or pushing a grocery cart.




Isn't your flooring breeding fungi?


Why does it smell sometimes?
We can control a lot of the things in the studio, but we can't control the people. Sweaty people smell like sweat. We run the Odorox between classes to clear the smell, but if you're in class and people start sweating, you're going to smell sweat.

The sweat that cools you off comes from your eccrine glands and doesn't really smell. It's mostly just water. Clean bodies don't smell strongly of sweat.

The sweat that does smell comes from your apocrine glands and does not significantly contribute to cooling. These are found mostly in the armpits and groin and this smelly sweat is where a large amount of our pheromones are excreted. Your apocrine glands are not activated during a hot yoga class, so if you smell a strong armpit smell, it's usually from something that stimulated the system earlier in the day to produce these communication odors.


What can I do to help?

• First, bring a yoga mat and towel large enough to catch all of your sweat. If you find there is a puddle around your mat during or after class, you don't have a big enough towel or enough layers.


• Please brush your teeth before the morning classes. The Saturday 9 am always complains about the bad breath smell from the 7 am.

• Please refrain from wearing scented products like perfume, cologne, body spray, hair spray, and spray deodorant. One in five Americans has chemical sensitivity. This condition produces nuisance symptoms like stuffy nose and sneezing, in addition to more serious effects from exposure like hives, wheezing, and asthma. If you can't live without your Axe Body Spray, just apply it in the car after you leave.

• Bring home all of your sweaty items with you after class. We've all been yoga space-cadets before. Take an extra moment before you go to look around and be sure you've collected all of your wet, sweaty things.

• Towel off if you're a massive sweater. Dripping in the shower line? Ask the teacher for an extra towel to stand on or towel off with it so you don't leave a puddle in the lobby.


How else is Blaze committed to environmental friendliness?

• In building the studio, we recycled or salvaged many of our materials. The wood shelving in the lobby are boards from a dismantled barn. Our front desk is made from a tree that was struck by lighting on a friend's property in Vermont. The shower floors are made from recycled glass bottles (all used during the building of the studio). Our benches are made from reclaimed wood from building tear-downs. All of our doors are salvaged from a remodel of a Rockefeller vacation home up-Maine. Our showers are made from slate tile salvaged from the scrap pile at Cumberland Salvage.

• Our changing room bench-cubbies are made by a local woodsmith.

• We use LED lighting in the hot room fixtures to save on energy consumption.


• Our hot room is insulated like a giant cooler to retain as much heat as possible.

• We use the most efficient and powerful Reznor rooftop heater to minimize natural gas consumption.

• We employ an Energy Recovery Ventilator controlled by a CO2 sensors to retain the heat energy of the air in the room while drawing in fresh air for improved ventilation and circulation.

• We maintain 40% humidity in the room with our Humidifall waterfall. By keeping humidity levels from dropping in the winter months, we reduce the amount of energy consumed to heat the room.

• We use online registration and iPad check in to reduce paper consumption.

• We work with Mr. Fox Composting to recycle or compost nearly all of the waste produced by the studio.  

With a commitment to responsibility and excellence, we can all contribute to a better future for all.

Yours in sweat and service,