If you're a novice at backyard vegetable gardening, but your first season was successful, you may want to take advantage of the cooler weather to expand your garden. In multi-season climates, when the leaves change color, you can pile compost and soil right onto grass to naturally prepare it for plantings in the spring. Covering grass with a few inches of organic planting matter in the fall will suffocate the grass; let it break down and you'll have new raised beds when the snow melts away.

Want to make an instant face scrub that exfoliates and hydrates dry skin in two easy steps? Just raid your pantry for chia seeds and coconut oil. Mix the two together and gently wipe your face. The chia seeds naturally exfoliate dead skin cells, and the coconut oil hydrates. Allow the mask to sit on your skin for a few minutes, then rinse it off to reveal baby-soft, hydrated, healthy skin. This beauty treatment uses food-grade ingredients you might already have and has no chemicals.

One of the reasons some people insist on using a plastic straw in their beverages is that it helps prevent drinks from staining their teeth. But dentists have debunked that myth: The liquid still enters the mouth and makes contact with the veneer on your teeth. The only way to avoid staining from liquids is to have the straw literally go to your throat. So, since straws don't help to protect teeth, how about protecting the planet by skipping plastic straws?