As well as benefiting the earth and our bodies, environmental practices produce greenbacks. In the in-line skate industry, companies play the green card when they use environmentally sound production practices or utilize recycled materials for their products or packaging. For example, ROCES runs a clean factory with no noxious fumes. They make buckles out of scraps and their skates come in boxes made of recycled paper board. Similarly, some wheel companies have foregone the traditional clamshell packaging for more politically correct cartons.

I recently practiced an act of environmentalism which benefited the earth, my body, and my pocketbook. It was called moving without a U-Haul. You guessed it: I skated everything except the kitchen sink the eight blocks between my old pad and my new one. I figured that as long as I was going to be tied up with the hassle of moving, I might as well get a workout. And what a workout it was.

Eight blocks doesn't seem far, especially when it's all downhill. But throw in some gnarly cross traffic, a lot of rain, and a hundred pounds on your back and every trip has all the drama of a Race Across America.

The first to go out the door was the kitchen table, the one that still bears the imprints of my fifth grade homework assignments. It's constructed of oak, supported by a central stalk and a four-footed base. With metal cogs and tracks for an expandable leaf, it's basically a bull of a piece.

Then went the chairs, two at a time, followed by cooler loads filled with dishes, bowls, cups and glasses, all of which survived perfectly intact. After that went boxes, books, backpacks stuffed to overflowing with clothes, bed tables and pillows, all the way down to the last plant on the balcony.

Even though the trip only took about five minutes each way, I averaged a trip every 20 minutes because I had to allow for drop-off time and packing time. Every trip was a different story. In the four days I had for moving, I must have made nearly 60 trips. 60 trips times 16 blocks divided by 10 blocks per mile is 96 miles of skating, half of which was done under load! I was training and I didn't even know it.

I should qualify this narrative by saying that I did rely on Howie and Albert to move the bed, the bookshelf, my collection of oil paintings, and, well, okay, I'll admit it, a few boxes in the van. Other than that, it was an eco-move all the way. And yes, I did leave the kitchen sink behind. Those things are made of lead.

Sidebar: "Do Not Try This at Home"

This story should contain the traditional warnings about not attempting any of these inherently dangerous activities by yourself because the skills needed to perform the tasks described herein were executed by a trained professional, and so forth and so on. But rather than discourage anybody from attempting the insane, I offer some tips on skating with heavy loads:

1. It's always best to skate directly under the load you're carrying, such as I did with a broken-down bike in a bag on my back through the streets of New Delhi (though still disassembled, it's now in a box that's far too ungainly to get under easily). The point is always to keep one skate or the other, or both, centered below whatever you're carrying. Never go out on a limb with your weight.

2. If you're hoisting a heavy box without handles or an odd-sized piece that needs to stay upright -- such as a big potted plant whose leaves hang in your eyes like shaggy dog hair-- you'll need to prop it on your lap while in a squat position. You can find a position of equilibrium by leaning back to counteract your weight off the front -- just as sailers do on a catamaran to keep it from keeling over.

3. The safest and easiest way to carry lots of stuff is with a big backpack that has a waist strap. That way when you cinch it up nice and tight you suspend the load on your hips. This is the backpacking principle: save your back by letting your legs do the work. I used to carry a month's worth of laundry in my backpack and although I was bent over nearly double

4. Keep both skates on the ground at all times with loads that you stagger under, such as the aforementioned box or plant. After pushing out, you can still bring your leg back under your body just by pointing your toe inward. Your skate will follow.

5. Never make any sudden movements, because your balanced position with extra weight has a much narrower range than without. Above all, don't sneeze, but if you absolutely have to, by all means, let it out and keep your eyes open!

6. Rotate your head, not your whole body, when looking for cross-traffic. With so much weight, the tendency toward oversteering in severe. Looking over your shoulder by twisting your body may cause you to land on your stomach.

7. For braking, a snowplow position works best. Apply even pressure to the heels of both skates and you'll slow down without the load shifting on you.

After my successful move, I thought about starting a local eco-skate moving company but dropped the idea after considering that no matter how good I was, people still wouldn't have enough confidence to let me skate down the street with their precious soup terrines and samovars. Oh well, it probably would have been an impossible business to insure anyway.