Massage Therapy Journal Spring 2025

Spring 2025 • 71

10 Tips for Massage therapists Looking to Enhance the Sustainability of Their Practices If you are a massage therapist trying to make your practice more sustainable, knowing where to start can be overwhelming. At first blush, committing to developing a more sustainable practice can seem prohibitively expensive. In reality, however, there are a variety of simple first steps you can take for little to no cost—some of which may even save you money. Here are a few tips: 1 Conserve resources by turning off lights and electronics when not in use 2 Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs and fixtures 3 Set up clear recycling bins for paper, plastic and glass 4 Research local recycling options for massage products like lotion bottles and used towels 5 Repurpose or donate used equipment 6 Switch to eco-friendly cleaning and disinfectant products 7 Find products that offer refillable or reusable options to actively promote waste reduction 8 Consider products made with sustainable fibers when buying or replacing linens 9 Train staff on new environmentally friendly strategies and techniques 10 Use client communication material within your practice to share eco‑friendly practices to spread the word

Similar to Trees for the Future, Sustainable Harvest International is an environmental nonprofit that partners with smallholder farmers to adopt regenerative practices that nourish both people and the planet. On the disinfectant product side, Virox became the first chemical manufacturer to earn LEED Gold certification for manufacturing chemicals in a healthy, efficient and cost-effective “green” building. “Furthermore, our adherence to the Environmental Management System—ISO 14001, certified by the British Standards Institution, underscores our holistic approach to sustainable operations,” Woolford says. In an effort to reach its GHG goals, Performance Health has partnered with consulting firm Axia. “We partnered with Axia consulting in 2023 to research and inform our plan creation, undertake our first GHG audit and scope and procure the tools required to monitor, measure and plan reductions to our GHG emissions,” Umbers says. How can Small Massage Practices be more Sustainable? According to AMTA’s 2023 Massage Profession Research Report , 78% of massage therapists describe themselves as sole practitioners, and it’s important to note that for many reasons, efforts around sustainability will look different for small businesses than large companies. A 2021 study 1 explored how small businesses can better pursue sustainability, noting that while there has been abundant research on large corporations in regards to their sustainability plans, there is still a lack of clarity on how small businesses can effectively form sustainability strategies. The study, which focused on two small craft breweries, created a detailed account of how a combination of planned and emergent actions enable and are mobilized through individual and collective actions to form a sustainability strategy. The study emphasized the human agent in the sustainability strategy, as “collective agency and interpersonal relationships are central in forming strategic sustainability orientation.” Researchers also noted: “Understanding sustainability strategy as a collective and distributed

According to AMTA’s 2023 Massage Profession Research Report , 78% of massage therapists describe themselves as sole practitioners, and it’s important to note that for many reasons, efforts around sustainability will look different for small businesses than large companies.

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