When shopping for holiday gifts online, opt to have the packages sent to your office or place of work instead of your home. If you don't normally have packages sent to your house, it means delivery services like FedEx and UPS have to make an unscheduled stop to bring the items to your house. That means more fuel and more greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. By having the items shipped to your place of work -- which already gets daily visits from these carriers -- you reduce the wasted fuel by removing the additional stop. To be even greener? Opt for ground service instead of overnight. It's cheaper, and it uses fuel-efficient trucks instead of planes.

Can books be recycled? It all depends on the type of book, and if you're willing to take one extra step to make them recyclable. You can toss any paperback book in a paper recycling bin, since the whole book is recyclable. But when it comes to hardcover books, you'll need to rip off the cover and spine due to the thick composite and glues used for binding. That cover can be tossed into the trash, while all the interior pages can easily be recycled. Of course, you can always donate books to Goodwill and the Salvation Army, too.

When buying paint to give your home's walls a refresh, understand the difference between low-VOC and zero-VOC paints. Many national brands of paint will label their paint as "low-VOC" or low in volatile organic compounds, the odor paint gives off. While it sounds healthy and green, low also means that it contains chemicals that lead to poor indoor air quality. In fact, nearly all latex paints today are considered low-VOC. What you want for the greenest choice is zero-VOC paint, which is just that: No volatile organic compounds whatsoever.