It seems all you hear today is about living a greener lifestyle. You need to reduce your carbon footprint and your environmental impact. We all know that this is important, but it can feel like being lectured at times.

By eating healthy, organic foods you are not only helping your body by giving it fresh food, you are saving the earth from being contaminated by pesticides. Organic meats help by keeping the environment free of antibiotics and growth hormones. Plus you’re avoiding all those nasty things from going inside of you! By eating fresh, organic foods, you are avoiding all the processed foods that do a better job of clogging your arteries than they do of providing nutrition.

Try to drive less. By combining your errands, you not only save fuel and reduce the traffic on the roads; you are giving yourself less stress from dealing with traffic jams and other drivers. Carpool or use public transit when you can. If you choose to ride a bike or walk for some of your errands, you also get needed exercise. This will help keep your heart healthy and keep you limber and toned.

Composting your food scraps can save you money in garbage waste and provide you with great soil next season for your own garden. It also keeps a lot of good stuff out of the landfills. Just keep adding your fruit and vegetable wastes, egg shells, coffee grounds, and grains to the compost pile. You can add your raked leaves and lawn clippings as well. Don’t add meat or bones? they will attract insects like flies and will take longer to compost. Water the compost down once in awhile to get the enzymes activated. Come spring, you’ll have some nice compost soil to add to your own vegetable garden for more healthy eating.

You can use solar lights in your yard ? these lights work just as well as electric lights, but cost nothing to operate and conserve the use of electricity. There are many appealing designs available and they can fit into anyone’s budget. You don’t need to have an electrician install them and the lights are quite bright enough to illuminate your yard. You can even get solar holiday lights, adding a cheerful seasonal touch without adding a thing to your electric bill.

Small things like recycling cans, bottles and plastic packaging helps lower your garbage bills and helps reduce your carbon footprint. Use cloth bags when you shop instead of taking their paper or plastic bags. Some stores even knock off a few cents when you use your own bags. All of this will help reduce pollution, which is healthier for you because you’ll be breathing cleaner air.

Contrary to popular opinion, it is easy to be green and even easier too go green. It saves you money while doing something good for the environment. Before you know it, living green will be second nature and you’ll be looking for ways to add some more green living to your lifestyle.