One of the easiest ways to green up your personal routine is to ditch bodywash and use bars of soap instead. Bodywash comes packaged in plastic bottles, is made with a high percentage of water (which makes the bottles heavy) and is often made with artificial dyes, fragrances and other chemicals. Bar soaps are minimally processed and packaged and are a much greener choice. If you want to travel with bar soaps, run a vegetable peeler along the edge and make soap curls. The curls can be used one at a time when you're on the go.

It's a quandary: You want to have flowering plants indoors, but your companion animals have a habit of chewing or eating them. If this is the case with your feline friends, try picking up nontoxic plants that won't harm them. African daisies, Christmas cacti, orchids and tropical plants like bromeliads are generally safe, although if large amounts do get eaten, it can still cause your pet to get mildly sick.

If your medicine cabinet is full of unopened and unused cosmetics that you've collected, there's no need to toss them out. The nonprofit Cosmetics for a Cause helps women in distressed life situations by distributing unopened skin care and color cosmetics to them with the mission of "outer beauty, inner strength." Since 2012, more than $1.5 million in makeup and personal care items have been distributed. To donate, visit cosmeticsforacause.org.