If your backyard garden has a bumper crop of fruits and vegetables this season, don’t let them go to waste. The nonprofit Ample Harvest can help you connect with a local food bank or pantry that will gladly take your perishable harvest. The key thing is to donate high-quality produce that is good enough that you would eat it. Even the smallest donations are welcome, since fresh produce is scarce. Learn more at ampleharvest.org, and be sure to tag #ampleharvest on Instagram when you donate.

When your bottle of dishwashing soap, shampoo or laundry detergent is empty (but there’s soapy residue on the inside), just screw on the plastic cap and throw it into the recycling bin. While it’s often a good thing to give recyclables a rinse to get them clean, leftover soap is actually desired by recyclers. The soap helps to get other nonsoapy recyclables clean.

It’s common knowledge that planting a tree is an eco-friendly action that can help absorb CO2 emissions and release oxygen into the atmosphere. But not all trees are the same, and some absorb more pollution than others due to their genetic makeup, size and shape. For the most bang for the buck, look for trees like black walnut, white pine, scarlet oak, red pine, Ponderosa pine and chestnut trees. They are easy-to-find species, easy to grow and will ultimately be a workhorse tree in your backyard.