1. Waterproof Recycling Bags (shown) make it a cinch to divvy up recyclables. The handles let them be carted to the curb easily.
To Buy: $22 for a set of four, www.dwr.com.

2. Tuck a cardboard six-pack container in a tote bag and you’ve got an organizer for garden tools.

3. Install Three by Three’s Triple Hook-Up Strip mail holder by the front door. Keys hang from it, and outgoing mail goes on top.
To Buy: $19, www.fridgedoor.com.

4. In each room, tuck a permanent marker and blue painter’s tape in a zippered plastic sandwich bag and have the kit handy for labeling anything and everything.

5. Clasp a pair of garden gloves together with a binder clip and hang them from pushpins on a corkboard in the mudroom.

6. Install a wire cooling rack on the garage wall, attach hooks to it, and hang tools.

7. Forget buying cardboard storage boxes. Snag empty copier-paper boxes from the office and use them to hold goods at home.

* These tips, products, and ideas were taken from the Real Simple organizational Hall of Fame. Tried, true, and worth repeating.