Sara Snow never had many friends drop by for dinner or a late-night snack when she was growing up in Ann Arbor, Mich. Although the college town had more than its share of liberal-thinking naturalists, few '80s kids were into soy milk, hummus and sprouts sprinkled with Herbamare.

On the other hand, Sara's food-conscious parents never restricted their four children from tasting the forbidden fruit — more accurately brownies, cookies and cupcakes — at play dates.

"Although we were THE healthy food family, my mom would say, 'Have one. See how they make you feel. Do they give you a headache? Do they give you a sugar rush, then you crash later? Make you tired? Just pay attention. See what it does to you,' " recalls Snow, now a 32-year-old Indianapolis resident.

"Because they did that, we were able to grow up making smart, healthy decisions for ourselves."

That open-minded parenting style also set the foundation for Snow's career.

As host of the Discovery Network shows "Living Fresh" and "Get Fresh with Sara Snow," and the author of "Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home," (Bantam) Snow has become an authority on healthy, eco-friendly living.

She's the first to admit that "it's not easy being green."

Snow condemns the current "greener-than-thou, holier-than-thou" mentality of eco-zealots. "There's a lot of backstabbing happening around the world of green," she says.

"This movement started as a need for us to be making changes so that we can protect this planet we are destroying and raise a healthier culture of people.

"But now, it's become a fad. You've got the neighbors checking out each other's recycling bins to see who's recycling more, checking out to see who is using more CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) around the house."

Snow prefers to take a less aggressive, do-what-you-can, one-step-at-a-time approach. Choose your priorities, she says.

"It's a series of small steps; it shouldn't be looked at as something that can be done overnight," she says. "Give yourself some time to make these decisions, a few today, a few tomorrow."

Wearing an organic cotton, V-neck top, Snow is curled up in one of her favorite spots in the two-story, Colonial-style brick home she shares with husband Ryan and dog Makana.

From the sun-splashed room in the southeast corner of the house, she can see through the dining room and living room to her long front lawn, to the north through the kitchen window, and to the south to her neighbor's house.

In the backyard is an herb garden, Ryan's Big Green Egg grill and a composting bin. The windows have no curtains.

"I love bringing the outside in through these windows," says Snow, relaxing for the first time after a three-week TV shoot in Los Angeles. "I love being connected with nature."

Living green comes naturally to Snow. The daughter of Tim Redmond, a green movement pioneer and founder of the natural food empire Eden Foods, she describes her childhood as "growing up barefoot in a countryside home that was different from most." Organic gardens. Solar panels. Compost heaps.

She left home to attend Butler University in Indianapolis, graduating in 1998 with degrees in theater performance and telecommunications, and became a local morning news reporter. She and Ryan, who is employed at a medical technology company, married in 2002.

Through the years, Snow has stayed true to her family's philosophy, surrounding herself with eco-friendly foods, furnishings and fashion. There are recycling bins in her home's basement. Compact fluorescent lighting illuminates most of the home.

There's a kitchen drawer bursting with refillable water bottles, addressing one of Snow's pet peeves — bottled water.

"I'm shocked when I see people buying cases of bottled water. In most places you have great tap water, and if you don't like the tap water, buy a five-gallon jug and refill your own bottles."

She acknowledges that rules about green living are contradictory. For example, Snow prefers a slightly drafty home to today's airtight structures because "a little bit of fresh air flowing through creates a healthier home."

But doesn't that waste energy?

"In a lot of ways you have to pick your battles," she says. "Do you try to make your home as energy-efficient as possible, or do you trap all of that indoor air in your house? Indoor air is generally more toxic than the outdoor air."

Snow says toxic indoor air is caused by cabinets, furniture and beds made of pressed wood or particle board.

The glue in these products contains formaldehyde, she says, which becomes a gas at room temperature, escaping into the air. That's why Snow had new kitchen cabinets made out of solid wood.

"There are so many different things a person can do," she says. "You just have to decide what's most important to you."