Almost every type of uncooked rice -- white, jasmine, wild, arborio and basmati -- will last forever if stored in an airtight container and away from pests like insects. Brown rice, on the other hand, will last about six months in the pantry and 18 months in the freezer; brown rice still has rice bran, and the bran oil can turn rancid, which makes the shelf life shorter. If you want to save cooked rice, you can keep it refrigerated for about four days or frozen for up to six months. If you suspect the rice has gone bad, throw it out.

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You can feel like you’re waging a war with weeds when gardening at home. Instead of reaching for chemical sprays, many of us opt to pull them out by hand. But if you pull weeds and just toss them into a pile, you risk spreading seeds that can germinate in your yard. Instead, pull weeds and let the hot sun totally dry them out. Then create a “weed compost” where the weeds and other organic material will “cook”; once the compost reaches 200 degrees or higher, the seeds in the weeds are totally eradicated.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Every little bit helps to reduce waste and conserve natural resources. If you’re a habitual list-maker and you write everything down on paper, consider downloading a “list app” for your smartphone. One app, Google Tasks, is exactly that: It helps you create a customized task list of everything you need to do. The design is minimal, like a blank sheet of paper, but each task can have a subtask, and there’s no limit to the number of lists you can create, from basic “to-do” to grocery lists and more. Search your phone’s app store to see the wide variety of list apps; almost all of them are free.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION