When should you buy conventionally grown lemons instead of organic? It's simple: If you plan on using the zest of a lemon -- the outside skin or peel -- always go with organically grown citrus. But if you're just using the juice of the lemon, it's OK to go with conventionally grown. Even with a good washing, pesticide buildup and waxes on the outside can make it tough to remove all of the chemicals before you zest a lemon. Organic lemons are grown without pesticides, so the zest is safe to use for cooking. But even with organic, be sure you wash it well: Lemons -- conventional and organic -- are touched by many hands before reaching your supermarket.

When it's time to get a new fridge, many people relegate the old one to the garage as a backup. Want to save about $150? Recycle it instead. Since the refrigerator is one of the biggest users of energy in the home, having an extra adds about 10 to 20 percent to your electric bill -- or about $150 annually. Recycling is pretty easy: Many electric companies offer a free service where they will come to your home and take away your old fridge. It will get recycled, and the Freon gas inside will also be safely removed.

When installing new carpet in a home, that smell that comes from carpet is actually something called a volatile organic compound, or a VOC. The VOCs come from the glues and dyes used to make the carpet and can lead to poor indoor air quality. One way to help lessen your exposure to VOCs is to ask the carpet installer to unroll and air out the carpet for 48 hours at their warehouse before bringing it to your home. This will help significantly reduce the amount of VOCs released in your house.