12 Tips for More Sustainable Living

Doing right by the planet is easier than you think, and might just help your wallet as well

Oftentimes, doing things in a more sustainable way means doing them the old-fashioned way-buying bar soap instead of bottles of body wash, for example, or hanging clothes on a line versus running the dryer.

Making small tweaks to our routines can pay off big in various ways: helping the planet while saving you time, money, or both. With that in mind, we've compiled 12 easy steps that will help you go the most distance. We hope you'll be surprised by how big a difference you can make with relatively little effort.

1 Up your recycling game.

Even if you're good about toting your newspapers and cat food cans to the curb each week, you're probably tossing other items that could (and should!) go into those blue bins. Think foil, bubble wrap, wire hangers-when recycled, all can turn into things you might not expect, including car bumpers, carpeting, comic books, egg cartons, nails, and trash bags, according to the EPA.

Other items, such as dead batteries, spent light bulbs, empty ink cartridges, and used motor oil, should be taken to dedicated collection centers (often the stores where you bought them) for recycling. If that seems like a hassle, consider the alternative: These would otherwise spend centuries in landfills. Plastic can take up to 450 years to decompose; aluminum, 200 years; and glass, a million years.

2 Don't crush your cans.