Your green lifestyle cannot stop once you leave your house and step outside! Lawn care is not exempt from environmentally-friendly practices and here are 10 tips to get you started towards having a truly green lawn.

1. Collect water with a rain barrel which you can use to water your plants and lawn while waiting for the next rainfall. You can buy or make a rain barrel which you simply place under a drain spout. Using water that is already provided will help to reduce the fact that the average American lawn can use over 200,000 gallons of water each summer. Check out flotender for information on how to effectively use a rain barrel and unique ideas on how to get the most out of this invention.

2. Water your lawn and plants early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid water being evaporated during the day. Also, make sure to only water when it is necessary.

3. Contact your apartment complex, association or community if you see mismanaged sprinkler systems. How often have you seen sprinklers watering concrete sidewalks or drowning grass patches in puddles of water? This is obviously counterproductive, wasteful and these costs are then passed on to you as a tenant or community member. Make sure that your own sprinkler systems are correctly positioned so as to maximize efficiency.

4. Plant native plants and grasses. There are many resources that will help you determine what is native to your area. eNature.com has a tool that allows you to type in your location and it will provide you with all plants and grasses that are native to your state. You can even filter this search by grasses, wildflowers, vines, deciduous trees and a host of other plant types.

5. Use a push mower. 50 Million Americans mow their lawns each weekend which contributes to as much as 5% of the country’s air pollution!

6. Replace leaf blowers with an old-fashioned rake! Restore some quiet to your neighborhood, save some money and the Earth and reduce pollution. The Los Angeles chapter of the American Lung Association has produced research to illustrate how leaf blowers generate as much pollution in one hour as a car driven for 100 miles produces.

7. Aerate your soil regularly using spiked thong sandals. Aerating enhances oxygen levels to your soil, stimulating root growth, and improving your lawns drought tolerance.

8. Composting can provide you with a constant supply of fertilizer and may reduce the need for pesticides.

9. Leave your grass clippings on the lawn when you are finished mowing. These clippings provide valuable nutrients that your lawn needs to grow and they should not be wasted by sending them to take up more space in our landfills.

10. Put up a bird feeder to reduce pests. Birds help reduce insects that attack your flowers, gardens, lawns and shrubs.