Nearly 120 billion units of hard-to-recycle packaging are created globally every year for the beauty industry. This includes tubes, containers, caps and jars filled with cleansers, lotions, scrubs and more. While everything is technically recyclable, it's not all easily recyclable. One retailer changing this is Nordstrom. Their free program BeautyCycle takes all of it back in their stores to be recycled -- regardless of the brand or where you originally bought it. They even accept and recycle tubes, caps, dispensers and twist-up containers. The retailer is aiming to recycle 100 tons of packaging by 2025. Learn more at Nordstrom.com.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

During the hot summer months, a central air conditioning system can be a simple way to keep your home cool. And by choosing an Energy Star-rated model, you know you're using the most energy-efficient model possible to save electricity and money. But if you have an older central air conditioner, swapping it out for a new one can be very costly. Instead, one simple and affordable way to tune up your older model is to install a modern, high-efficiency compressor. The compressor inside the central air conditioning unit is designed to circulate the refrigerant into the hot air it pulls in. Older models work harder to cool down the air, while newer models will do it more efficiently.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

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