LED lightbulbs (short for light-emitting diodes) have taken over as the greenest choice when it comes to choosing lightbulbs for your home. They are long-lasting, mercury-free, energy-efficient and cast a soft white light. But when shopping for LED bulbs, it can be tough to determine which bulb is the right one for your house. To figure it out, look for the lumens rating on the package. This is a measurement to determine the output of light for an LED bulb. To figure out which LED bulb should replace an old-fashioned incandescent, multiply the wattage of the old bulb by 100. So a 40-watt incandescent bulb would mean a 4000-lumen LED bulb is the perfect green swap.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Nearly 4.8 million tons of synthetic fibers have been dumped into our waterways since the 1950s; these are microscopic fibers from fabric made from nylon, polyester and other non-natural materials. To help reduce your contribution of microfiber pollution from your wash, add a filter on your washing machine. These filters can capture up to 89% of the fibers shed from laundry in the water. Also, front-loading machines created less waste than top loaders, and opting for cold water over hot also resulted in significantly less shedding of fibers.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

It turns out the expiration date on a bottle of water isn't for the water itself, but for the bottle. Water doesn't spoil, but the bottle itself actually starts to break down and leach chemicals into the water. Typically, bottled water has a two-year lifespan, which means if you have a stash for emergency use only, you should replace it from time to time. But the big eco-takeaway is this: Isn't this just one more reason to avoid drinking single-use plastic bottled water altogether?

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION