With summer around the corner, the Environmental Protection Agency has tips on how to properly fill up your car's gas tank, especially during hot, sunny days. Try to fill up when it's coolest -- like in the morning or night -- since any accidental spillage of gasoline will evaporate right into the atmosphere when it's warmer outside. When gasoline evaporates, it becomes a vapor that contributes to bad ozone and toxic air pollution. And don't top off the tank after the gas pump automatically stops. Your car needs extra room in the tank to allow the gasoline to expand. If you top if off, extra gas will escape into your car's vapor collection system, which wastes both money and fuel.

When you're at the gas station filling up, it can be easy to go through your car and toss out recyclable paper mail, empty soda cans and plastic bottles. Instead, have a small recycling bin in the car (even a repurposed reusable bag) to store recyclables in. When it's full, empty it at home in your curbside recycling bin.

Ever see stray cans and bottles and other trash carelessly strewn on the street? The reality is it probably wasn't from a litterbug, but from improperly filled trashcans. When you throw trash into the can without using trash bags, you risk items being accidentally knocked out or falling out on collection day. These small items -- which are often lightweight -- can end up on the street, clogging storm drains or eventually littering wooded areas. Do the right thing and make sure all refuse is properly bagged before tossing it out.