If you wash your car at home, do it over grass or soil and not on a paved surface. When you wash a car on an unpaved area, you allow the soapy, dirty water to soak into the ground, where it has a chance to filter and soak back into the soil as groundwater. Be sure to use biodegradable detergents or soaps to wash your car, especially if you have your own well water on-site, since contaminants from chemical soaps can leach into your own water supply.

Has the power gone out in your home due to a storm? Not sure what's safe to eat or what to toss from your refrigerator? The United States Department of Agriculture has a website that lists what to do with each item in your fridge. It warns that appearance and odor are not good indicators of which foods are safe to eat. For example, dairy products like milk should be tossed, but butter and processed cheese are fine to keep. Fresh fruits that are cut should be tossed, but an open jar of fruit juice is fine to keep. For the whole list, visit foodsafety.gov.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an astounding 40 percent of food in the United States ends up in landfills. To help cut back on food waste, try this simple tip to save leftovers at home: Invest in reusable, small, flat containers with matching lids and divide leftovers into them. This will help the food cool down faster, preventing bacteria spores from germinating. The benefit of several containers also helps with portion control, so family members can opt to reheat one serving instead of an entire batch of food.