Did you know aluminum foil can be recycled in your curbside recycling bin? It's the same material as soda cans, and it can be recycled forever. When recycling aluminum foil, cleanliness is key. If baked-on food is still on the foil, wipe it clean or tear off the messy part before throwing it in the bin. If a batch of recyclable aluminum has too much food contamination, often it has to be tossed instead of recycled. When in doubt, toss it out.

One of the biggest energy hogs at work or in your home office is your desktop computer. When buying a new computer, a laptop is more energy-efficient than a desktop. But for practicality, sometimes a desktop is the only choice that can work. One way to reduce the energy usage of a desktop computer is to be selective about the monitor size. By choosing a screen and then going down 2 inches, you reduce the energy consumption of the monitor by 30 percent. That's just one easy step to save energy -- and you'll hardly notice a difference.

If you buy only one fruit or vegetable organic, make sure it's this: apples. Year after year, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group has listed apples as the No. 1 most contaminated produce. Eighty percent of apples sampled by the USDA tested positive for a chemical called DPA (or diphenylamine), which farmers use to prevent the skin from darkening. While it extends the shelf life of apples, it has the potential to be a serious carcinogen. And since the DPA is sprayed on apples after they are harvested, its concentration is highest when consumers buy them. Buy organic, or at the very least, wash apples thoroughly and peel them before eating.