Crafters, listen up: Your collection of handmade pottery, crocheted items, watercolors and homemade jewelry can go to someone who loves it and help support a worthy cause at the same time. The nonprofit Made4Aid collects handmade and vintage items and sells them on Etsy to support the charity Doctors Without Borders. The organization looks for small and easy-to-ship items like etchings, jewelry, T-shirts, ornaments, baby items, craft supplies, bags and decorative items. To see if your crafty skills can help others, check out the group's website at made4aid.org.

If your home is by a lake, stream, river or other waterway, consider choosing native plants to landscape near the water. There are numerous reasons why native plants make the most sense. First, these plants do more than just look great: They provide habitat, food and more for wildlife. But they are also easy to grow, since they require no fertilizers, are drought tolerant and essentially take care of themselves. Flowering native plants also act as pollinators and attract butterflies, bees and birds. Local gardening groups and wildlife departments in your area can help you identify what native plants work best. There are even groups that help share native plants with other gardeners to keep this easy and eco way of growing going.

If you’re an avid or budding fisherman, one thing you can do to help wildlife when you fish is to use non-toxic tackle. Lead is a toxic metal, and many types of fishing tackle are made with solid lead; when the pieces get separated from a broken line, waterfowl like loons, swans and other birds often eat them. Fish who ingest lead are eaten by larger birds (like eagles), who then get lead poisoning from the tainted fish. When shopping for sinkers, jigs and other tackle, look for inert materials like tin, steel and nickel alloy. You can find them at any sporting goods store and online.