The most common culprits for fresh fruit and vegetable spoilage are natural bacteria and microbes that are all around us. The United States Department of Agriculture says when fruits and vegetables are exposed to moisture, these bacteria and microbes rapidly multiply and ruin fresh produce. One way to help preserve produce and to prevent food waste is to keep everything as dry as possible. A loose crisper drawer allows air to circulate around fruit and veggies, so don't overpack it. And wash the fruit only when you're ready to use it. Just a trace amount of moisture left can be enough to speed up the spoilage process.

If pulling weeds by hand from your yard seems like the only organic method for a weed-free lawn, think again: Just mow differently. Set the blades on your lawnmower to a higher setting and mow more often. Leave the grass clippings on the lawn to return the nutrients back into the soil. The higher grass and grass clippings will make it harder for weeds to thrive, since the grass blades will be stronger and denser. Now that it's the end of summer, add organic corn gluten meal to the lawn since it's a natural weed killer that won't hurt your grass. Adding this natural additive to your lawn will help reduce weeds by as much as 80 percent over the course of several years.

It's tempting to toss a pair of smelly sneakers into the washing machine to get them clean and smelling fresh again. But washing sneakers can take a lot of time since the drying process after washing can take hours, if not days. The reality is the odor from smelly sneaks usually comes from the insoles, which are removable and washable on their own. To clean them, just slip them out of the sneaker and wash them with warm water and liquid laundry detergent. Allow them air dry completely before placing back into the sneaker. If they still smell, toss them into a zipper plastic bag and sprinkle baking soda inside. Zip the bag closed and let it sit for 24 hours. This will absorb odors and usually does the trick to make them smell (almost) as good as new.