Let's go deeper. Lots of these lists are circulating. Most that I've seen aim to entice people to feel like living greener can be a reasonable endeavor with baby steps. If you are already reducing, reusing, recycling, using compact fluorescent light bulbs, hanging your laundry and turning down your thermostat in our weatherized homes, what next? These ten tips offer ways to deepen your commitment to a healthier planet. Tackle them in increments and work your way towards truly sustainable living.

1. SLOW DOWN. Drive slower than the posted speed limit. Sound easy? Most people, myself included, tend to drive at the speed limit, usually faster. Did you know that every gallon of gasoline we use puts out about 5 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere and uses 100 tons of ancient forest? Driving slower is not only safer, but uses less gas and is a good way to practice your commitment to greener living. Can you do it on the highway with other cars roaring by? Can you be at the forefront of setting a new example and a new pace? Surprisingly, I find that doing so gets me there in just about the same amount of time.

Try slowing down and deepening your breathing too - you'll get more oxygen and reduce stress for free. Eat more slowly, get more nutrients out of your food and you won't need to eat as much Take your time and reclaim your focus on just one task at a time. Slow down and gain control of your life.

2. QUANTIFY YOUR GOALS. Use a carbon calculator and a personal reward system. This is my secret to making real progress with changing habits, the true key to greener living. Here's the scoop:

Did you know that the most important number in the world is 350? This is our collective measure for making the arguably most needed change on our planet - reducing global warming. 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere has recently been named the safety line for managing the effects of climate change. Since we are fast approaching 390 parts per million, we all have work to do. The only way we can slow down the rise of this number is to change our habits, big time. Slow it down, stop it, and turn it around. This could be the biggest achievement of humankind.

Use a carbon calculator to address your own carbon footprint. Many of these calculators exist online. Once you know what your carbon output is, you can use many strategies to lower it, including those in this article. Addressing household energy and personal transportation will give you the biggest gains. A self-created reward system will turn this effort into a fun game. Some families, for instance, get everyone involved in reducing the electric bill, then reward themselves with a special treat or outing. I put a star on the calendar for every day I leave my car parked at home, aiming for more stars every year. Experiment and get creative with what works for you, then apply it to your favorite strategies.

3. EAT LESS MEAT or none at all. Meat production, even local and organic, requires far more land and water resources than growing grains and vegetables. Grain-fed cattle consume seven times more energy than they produce as beef. Worldwide, livestock production totals 18% of all greenhouse gases - more than car, bus, plane and train emissions combined according to a recent article in Audubon magazine. Livestock production generates methane, a gas 23 times more heat trapping than CO2 in our atmosphere. A chemical result of decomposing manure is nitric oxide, 296 times more heat trapping! Isn't this enough reason to eat less meat? The vegan diet is the least oil comsuming of all, practice it, be healthier and knock 250 gallons of oil off your carbon footprint per year!

4. BUY LOCAL, heal your economy. Support local businesses. Wean yourself and your family from the seduction of cheap products and big box stores. Reduce wasteful energy use and pollution associated with trucking goods long distances. Buy gifts from local craftspeople or make your own using local resources. Choose the most sustainably harvested products available. Localizing our economy by spending close to home revitalizes our communities.

5. GROW YOUR OWN and/or join and support local farmers. If you have a sunny space for a garden or even pots on a deck, what better way to cultivate a relationship with the earth than growing what food you can? Can't get more local than that! Make it easier and more fun by gardening with a friend. Join a local CSA farm and be part of a growing Community Supported Agriculture movement nationwide in which families participate with farms to help with tasks and take home an abundance of food weekly. You can also buy your produce, locally raised meat, dairy, honey and other products at a local farmer's market. Any way you do it, the food is fresher, tastier, and hasn't traveled hundreds of miles to get to your table.

6. COMPOST. Studies show that 25% of household garbage is organic material. Keeping it out of the landfill saves money and reduces methane release into our atmosphire. Organic materials in landfills decompose without oxygen and produce methane. Composting in your backyard is easy and affordable and produce a vital resource that can be used in your own garden or to make local soils richer and more resilient. I can even do it in my shaded yard - it just takes longer. My town has a composting program - perhaps yours does too. In this scenario, there is simply no excuse not to do it.

7. GO PUBLIC. Choose public transportation. If is far more efficient on a per-passenger-mile basis. E Magazine reports that Amtrak is 17% more efficient than domestic airline travel and 21% more efficient than going by car. Buses are a great alternative to car travel in the city and efforts are underway to make them less polluting. If you are planning a vacation, consider going by train. If you must travel by car, consider carpooling or renting a hybrid vehicle.

8. DRIVE LESS, feel better. Walk, bike, carpool, use public transportation, use alternatively fueled vehicles, stay home on vacation or vacation closer to home - all these strategies are essential choices. Using my reward system described in #2 above, I reduced my annual driving by 4000 miles in my first year of tracking the true results of my efforts - a 20% reduction that surprised even me! I can hardly wait to see how much more I can improve in year two. Using all the strategies achieves the greatest gains and lifestyle improvement.

9. GIVE BACK. Reinforce the world the way you want it to be. If you make charitable donations, develop a giving plan to express your vision of the world. If you are like me, you have more than a few causes you believe in. Give back with volunteer time, with money or other types of support. In addition to supporting endeavors on a local and global level, I strongly recommend offsetting your shrinking carbon footprint by making donations to alternative energy projects that will help our society reduce fossil fuel dependency and expand green energy use in the years to come.

10. DON'T HAVE CHILDREN, or raise them well. There really are too many people on the planet. We are well past the earth's ability to sustain us, in fact, we surpassed it around 1986, according to various sources. If you can choose to not have children, the impact is huge. Americans in particular with our high consumption lifestyles add far more carbon to the atmosphere than people living in less developed countries. If you want to raise kids, adopt or become a foster parent. Consider the benefits of having a role in the lives of children, be it as a teacher, big brother/big sister, or simply getting more involved in the support of friends and relatives raising kids. There are so many children who desperately need a lift up and no real need to produce more. While you are at it, do what you can to be the best role model possible on how to live sustainably on our planet. It will be best gift you can possibly give.