Did you know that American drivers produce about 1.3 billion gallons of used motor oil every year? Unfortunately, about 200 million gallons of that is improperly disposed of, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. One way to help is to always have your motor oil replaced at a professional facility that can capture every last drop for proper disposal. The second way to help is to replace your old oil with refined oil, which is reclaimed motor oil that has been refined and recycled. It uses about 80 percent less energy to make and is just as good as conventional motor oil for your car.

When you're caring for your lawn in the spring and summer, there are simple tricks to maximize water efficiency. One easy tip is to avoid turning on sprinklers or watering on windy days; a large majority of the water will be lost to evaporation. Choose when the temperature outside is its coolest -- early morning or late at night -- when the sun won't speed up evaporation. And the best tip? Water your lawn by hand instead of using sprinklers -- this can actually cut your water usage by 50 percent.

Your old college textbooks, gaming consoles and personal electronics gathering dust in the basement or attic may be worth a lot of money. Amazon.com has made it easy to find out if your items are worth anything through its Amazon Trade-in program. Hundreds of thousands of items are eligible; all you do is find your items and ship them to Amazon -- for free. It's as simple as a few clicks of the mouse. You'll get up to 80 percent of the original value of the item back in the form of an Amazon gift card.