Wrinkle-resistant clothing sounds like a time-saving wonder fabric. When you launder something like a cotton dress shirt at home, it often comes out of the dryer wrinkled and needing to be pressed. This can be time-consuming, but resist the temptation to buy wrinkle-resistant shirts. A toxic chemical called formaldehyde is used in the resin that coats this fabric. Instead, try washing clothing and letting shirts and pants air dry to minimize wrinkles. Or, if you must buy no-iron clothing, wash them at least twice before wearing them to remove the high levels of chemicals on freshly treated clothing and to help minimize skin irritation when you wear them.

Many people collect recyclable plastic containers and bundle them in thin plastic bags sold to hold co-mingled recyclables. When it comes time to recycle these containers, you just knot the top and toss the whole bag full of recyclables right into the bin. But here’s the problem: Even if the thin plastic bag is recyclable, your recycling center would prefer you not use them. When the plastic bags are ripped open to let the plastic containers free, the thin plastic can get loose and jam recycling equipment. They can also blow away and contaminate other recyclables like paper, cardboard and metal.

When the summer nights are too hot to get a comfortable sleep, there are ways to cool your bedroom without resorting to an air-conditioning unit. If you have an old-fashioned hot water bottle, fill it with ice-cold water. You can also place your flat sheet and pillowcases in the freezer for a few hours before bedtime; they’ll feel cool against the skin until you fall asleep. And a regular tabletop fan can help blow cool air across your body, all while providing white noise to mask any other sounds that may prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.