While donations of nutritious food like brown rice, canned tuna and whole-wheat pasta are always appreciated at the food bank, there are some other things you can give that are higher on the wishlists of recipients. The No. 1 most requested item, according to a recent Reddit poll of food banks, is chocolate. So add a few chocolate bars and even brownie mix when donating. The second-most requested food items are spices, to help give bland food some flavor.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

While buying undyed, unbleached organic cotton is the absolute greenest kind of T-shirt purchase, it isn't always the easiest to find. So do the next best thing: Choose white T-shirts over colored shirts. A typical T-shirt requires about 6.6 gallons of water to dye and process from white to a colored shirt. Choosing a conventional white T-shirt helps save water, reduces chemical dyes and saves energy. If everyone did this, we'd save billions of gallons of water.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Did you know that metal bottle caps are recyclable but are often tossed into the trash at recycling facilities? It's because they are too small, and they often end up as waste as the recyclables get sorted. So, what to do? Start by opening a steel can (like a soup can) and an aluminum can (such as a soda). Start collecting any steel and aluminum bottle caps and sort them into the appropriate can. (If a cap sticks to a magnet, it's steel. If not, it's aluminum.) When the cans are full, just crimp them closed so nothing falls out, then recycle in your curbside recycling bin.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION