One of the easiest ways to combat pesky mosquitoes is to be vigilant about standing water. Mosquitoes need only a spoonful of still water to leave their eggs behind. While it's obvious that places like buckets, kiddie pools and inactive birdbaths are key real estate, consider less-obvious places like uneven gutters or the small trays under planters. If you do find an area that is difficult to dump or dry out, add a little vegetable oil to the standing water. It'll effectively kill the larva that may be inside.

Some chefs and home cooks believe you should have two coffee grinders at home: one for grinding coffee beans and a second for seeds and whole spices. But if you think less is more and having two is excessive, try this trick to get double duty from just one machine: use rice. Throw dry rice (any kind) into the coffee grinder and turn it on. The rice will pulverize into a powder and absorb all the oils from the coffee beans. With no lingering scent of java, you can use the coffee grinder for spices, seeds and herbs.

Glass is glass, so any glass can be recycled in the curbside recycling bin, right? If you have a broken mirror, don't put in the recycling bin. Mirrors aren't technically 100 percent glass -- they are actually two materials sandwiched together (glass on front and a chemically treated coating on the back, which gives it the mirror effect). To make it recyclable, the backing has to be removed from the glass. Since this is quite difficult, it's best not to put any mirrored items into the recycling bin, since it can contaminate a load of recyclables. Instead, broken mirrors should be disposed of properly, and used mirrors (in good shape) can be donated to charity.