Composting kitchen scraps for use in the garden is a classic green living practice, but there are many kitchen waste items that can also be put to good use in other ways in the garden. From hot peppers to paper towel rolls, here are seven kitchen waste items to make your home and garden healthy and happy. More

Last week, I showed how you can make natural pesticides for your plants. While these sprays pose less risk than the toxic ones, they also rid your plant of beneficial insects like the ladybug. Unlike most pesky bugs that you want to purge from your garden, ladybugs live up to their cute little name. They pose no harm and are actually beneficial to your plants by feasting on a few of your plant's nemeses such as aphids, mealybugs, leaf hoppers, scales and mites. More

Garden pests are one of the few things I find frustrating about gardening. Whether it's the snails taking over your lettuce or the aphids sucking on your roses — it's definitely annoying — but not a reason to fret and reach for harmful, toxic sprays. They might eliminate the pesky culprits, but they are harmful to you and the environment. Instead, try whipping up one of these simple recipes with ingredients you most likely have on hand. More

Growing up, when there were signs of a mouse in the house, my mom would sit in the kitchen, after everyone went to bed, waiting with a brown paper bag and peanut butter. Once the little guy made an appearance, she'd run around and try to scoop him up into said bag. Call her crazy, but it usually worked. Perhaps it might have been a little easier if she had one of these… More

Q: I'm really interested in this find on Craigslist but am afraid of purchasing soft used items for fear of bringing wee travelers home with me. On one home tour, I asked that question of the owners of a very cool floral sofa they purchased off of Craigslist. I did not get a reply from them, but many did comment. One reader indicated that you can have little critters even on 'hard' used purchases. More

This week my apartment has felt like anything but home. Since I first shared that it had bedbugs, my world has flipped and literally turned upside down. Still fighting the good fight, here's an update on our progress, the things that have worked and the things that have totally, totally sucked. More

Move to the big city, they said. You'll love Chicago, they said. Housing is affordable and there's always something to do, they said. All was well and good until that dreaded night when we first saw them. Bed bugs. Big ones, small ones — it was like an instant infestation. After a mildly embarrassing freak out, I'm here to take advice and give it back to our readers who might do battle with them some day. More

At first I thought the squirrels were pretty cute running through my backyard and leaping from branch to branch. They entertained my dog to no end, too. Then I saw them nibbling on my newly planted garden. And stealing bird food. And leaving a mess in the eaves. How annoying! Still, one solution never even occurred to me: eating them for dinner. More

About a month ago, I noticed the occasional moth aflutter in my walk-in closet. This annoyed me, and I would do my best to find it and kill it! One day, I discovered a favorite sweater attacked vociferously by a peer of said moth. I bought a pile of little cedar blocks and distributed them throughout my closet.

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Bed bugs are still plaguing New York and why would landlords or building managers advertise the fact that they have infestations? So many people move into infested buildings unaware of the problem. To counteract this, artist Hunter Fine created mini "Bed Bud Hotels" that he places outside of buildings with bed bug problems. More