Usually, before you head to the doctor, you try to eat a little more healthfully and drink plenty of water, right? I do. But what do you if your house is prepping for the “exam?”

Tomorrow, we’re finally taking our electric company up on it’s (not free) offer of a home energy audit. We’ve replaced almost alll of the windows and doors with energy efficient models. We’ve also invested in some EnergyStar appliances. And my husband put some extra insulation around our nursery.

The problem is that our nursery is still colder than the rest of the house in the winter, and warmer in the summer. My husband thinks that the walls might not be insulated. We’re hoping the energy audit will tell us.

We realize that this is mainly a way for the electric company to get business for certain affiliated contractors, but hopefully we will learn something interesting about our nearly 60-year-old house.

I promise to update you on the recommendations, and let you know if our house makes the “grade.”

I love finding fun, neat ways to reuse waste. We usually compost our coffee grounds, but I read a tip over the weekend that I could use old coffee grounds to fade cellulite!

Apparently coffee grounds can pull water out of fat cells and shrink them.

To try, mix 2 tbsps of coffee with 4 tsps of olive oil and massage the mixture onto cellulite for 2 minutes.  I don’t think it will be possible to then put these grounds in the compost bin, but it’s not a large amount.

I’m excited to try this soon!

Have any of you tried using coffee grounds for natural cellulite removal?

I’ve read a lot about upcycling, and while I like the sound of most of it, the thought of upcycling some of my old clothes had me worried. I could just imagine the ways the idea could go wrong.

Then I found this cool post on dornob. It’s amazing how she completely transformed the big, baggy shirts into incredibly cute dresses. As a very pregnant woman, I can’t really do any of that right now. But I love her creativity!

Did you get new electronics for the holidays? Maybe upgrade your TV? We didn’t. We are very, very cheap. We have two TVs that are pre-flat-screen era. They work pretty well, and we plan to keep them until we have to upgrade. I really don’t know the exact age, but I’m going to guess that they are both 10 + years old.

Over the holidays, I read an article that was about the ten things a TV salesperson won’t tell you about flat screens. One of the items was that the flat screens of today aren’t meant to last more than 5 years! I know we’re considered a throw away society, but it seems crazy to me that a TV won’t last longer than 5 years.

I realize that some people are major technofiles, and will want to replace or upgrade in 5 years or less, but I assumed those people could donate their old TVs, sell them or trade them in. I guess they are now expected to just toss them.

Maybe the article was more about the sales pitch, though. According to Real Simple, the average life span of a flat screen TV is 10 years. This article also recommends not touching your flat screen, because this will pixel burnout.

Another way to extend the life of your flat screen? Ezine @rticles recommends adjusting the Contrast and Brightness levels and keeping the TV in a cool, well-ventilated area.

You should also avoid mounting your flat screen above a fireplace.

If you have upgraded, then hopefully these tips will help you extend the life of your flat screen.

Do you have any other suggestions?

Yesterday, I saw a great, creative post at a designing blog I like to read. The writer talks about creative ways to wrap gifts with items found around the house. Her presents looked so pretty!

I know, the holidays are over. But there are always birthdays, anniversaries, other holidays (ahem, Valentine’s Day.)

I’m going to try to remember to try these ideas — we have a birthday coming up in less than 2 months.

Today is the last day to cast your vote in the Nature Conservancy’s 6th Annual Digital Photography Contest!

There are 14 finalists, whittled down from the more than 25,000 entries. The winners will be announced in January.

While it’s not super cold where we live, I know lots of other places are.

It’s hard to put forth a rosy glow when you’re freezing, especially in dry climates. But I found this super easy home-made facial mask that’s guaranteed to put some pink back in your cheeks.

It’s a Green Papaya Brightening Mask from Whole Living. 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unripe papaya, diced
1 teaspoon plain yogurt
1 teaspoon honey

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Apply to face with fingers. Leave on for 8-10 minutes. Rinse with cold water.

It sounds like a smoothie for my sons. I will have to keep this away from them when I make it.

Do you like to use any home-made spa treatments during the winter? Any suggestions?

Today is Cyber Monday, and after a blockbuster Black Friday, I’m sure it will be a good one.

I was wondering the other day if Cyber Monday was a greener way to buy presents than Black Friday. I’m not so sure, what with shipping from all over as opposed to getting something in your hometown.

Katie Fehrenbacher has a different opinion. She has an interesting article at GigaOm about how Cyber Monday is greener. She has a study to back her up. The study, commissioned by GigaOm, found that in 2009, the impact of Black Friday in 2009 was 50 times greater than Cyber Monday of that year.

What do you think? Do you do most of your shopping on Cyber Monday?

We’ve posted earlier about how you can recycle your rechargeable batteries and other e-waste at Best Buy, but now you have one more option!

You can recycle your rechargeable batteries, CFLs, and plastic bags at Lowe’s. Apparently this program has been around for more than a year, but I just today found out about it. I haven’t seen the recycling area in our store, but we are usually trying to keep two little ones from getting into any and everything in the store. I plan to look this weekend, and drop off a few CFLs and batteries.

Have you recycled anything at Lowe’s?

Dasani is sponsoring a giveaway of newSKY shoes by New Balance. The shoes are made using recycled plastic bottles, and they look pretty cool.

You can enter daily through December 9th. Good luck!