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Guests:

Kim Bartmann owner of three great restaurants in town (Barbette, Bryant Lake Bowl and the newly opened Red Stag Supper Club) is speaking with us today about how she has incorporated green techniques into her restaurants.  From purchasing local and organic food to using salvaged marble and tankless hot water heaters she has learned that going green has saved her some green!

She also feels great about helping to conserve our precious natural resources.   The Red Stag Supper Club has been registered as the first LEED-CI restaurant in Minnesota.  Go there to see LED lights, salvaged doors as tables and dual-flush toilets in action.  You can also feel good knowing that all of their food waste is composted!

Terry Bly from The Nature of Beauty, speaks with us about the realities of the beauty and personal care products industry.  She will teach us about safe, healthy and beautiful alternatives.  You do not need chemicals in your makeup to look gorgeous. In fact, Terry believes American women have been brainwashed into thinking they need reflective nanoparticles on their faces, mascara that quadruples the thickness of their lashes, and lipstick that stays on during deep-sea diving expeditions in order to look their best. There are healthy personal care products out there that will not increase your risk of cancer, infertility or asthma.  Check out her upcoming event at Tillies Bean Coffe Shop in South Minneapolis.  Terry will be there to talk about the benefits of eco-friendly beauty products and she will have free samples!!!  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Info and Links:

Purchase Safe Candy this Halloween

• Look for fair-trade certified or organic candies.  These prodcuts have more oversight and are less likely to contain any tainted products like what has been happening in China.
• The Natural Candy Store sells a variety of organic and made-in-the-US candies that are prefect for halloween

Tips:

Dark Green Tip #629 - Save Green with Your Water Heater

• Turn your water heater thermostat down to 120 degrees F.  This simple and FREE tip can save you around $400 per year.  You can save between $36-$61 annualy in standby heat losses and more than $400 in demand losses.
• Purchase an insulating jacket for your hot water heater.   It is easy to cover your electric water heater with an insulation jacket.  You can find one HERE.  This step can save you around $30 per year.  If you have a gas water heater, you need to be more careful to insure that you are keeping the insulating material away from any flame, flues or draft diverters.

Winterize Your Home:

WINTERIZING YOUR HOME

1. Clean those gutters  
Once the leaves fall, remove them and other debris from your home's gutters -- by hand, by scraper or spatula, and finally by a good hose rinse -- so that winter's rain and melting snow can drain. Clogged drains can form ice dams, in which water backs up, freezes and causes water to seep into the house. The rule of thumb is that water should be at least 10 feet away from the house."

2. Block those leaks
One of the best ways to winterize your home is to simply block obvious leaks around your house, both inside and out.  According to a group called EarthWorks, the average American home has leaks that amount to a nine-square-foot hole in the wall.  First, find the leaks: On a breezy day, walk around inside holding a lit incense stick to the most common drafty areas: recessed lighting, window and door frames, electrical outlets.

Then, buy door sweeps to close spaces under exterior doors, and tacky rope caulk to those drafty spots.  Outlet gaskets can easily be installed in electrical outlets that share a home's outer walls, where cold air often enters.

Outside, seal leaks with weather-resistant caulk. "Even if it's a small crack, it's worth sealing up."

3. Insulate yourself
"Another thing that does cost a little money -- but you definitely get your money back -- is adding insulation to the existing insulation in the attic.  You need a minimum of 12 inches of insulation in your attic.  Here's a great rule of thumb on whether you need to add insulation: "If you go into the attic and you can see the ceiling joists you know you don't have enough, because a ceiling joist is at most 10 or 11 inches."

4. Check the furnace
First, turn your furnace on now, to make sure it's even working, before the coldest weather hits.

It's a good idea to have furnaces cleaned and tuned annually. Costs will often run about $100-$125. An inspector should do the following, if not more
• Make sure that the thermostat and pilot light are working properly.
• Make sure that the fuel pipe entering your furnace doesn't have a leak.
• Check the heat exchanger for cracks -- a crack can send carbon monoxide into the home.
• Change the filter.

Throughout the winter you should change the furnace filters regularly and make sure you check them monthly. A dirty filter impedes air flow and reduces the efficiency of your furnace. Toss out the dirty fiberglass filters.  If you have a reusable electrostatic or electronic filters, it can be washed and replaced.

5. Get your ducts in a row
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a home with central heating can lose up to 60% of its heated air before that air reaches the vents if ductwork is not well-connected and insulated, or if it must travel through unheated spaces. That's a huge amount of wasted money, not to mention a chilly house.

Ducts aren't always easy to find, but you can often see them exposed in the attic or the basement and crawlspaces. Repair places where pipes are pinched, which impedes flow of heated air to the house, and fix gaps with a metal-backed tape.

Ducts also should be vacuumed once every few years, to clean out the abundant dust, animal hair and other gunk that can gather in them and potentially cause respiratory problems.

6. Your windows
If you haven't done it yet, take down the window screens and put up storm windows, which provide an extra layer of protection and warmth for your home. Storm windows are particularly helpful if you have old, single-pane glass windows. But if you don't have storm windows, and your windows are leaky or drafty, "They need to be updated to a more efficient window if your finances allow.

Of course, windows are pricey. Plan your budget to replace them a few at a time, and in the meantime, buy a window insulator kit which usually includes plastic sheeting that you affix to a window’s interior with double-stick tape. A hair dryer is then used to shrink-wrap the sheeting onto the window. It's temporary and it's not pretty, but it's inexpensive (about $4 a window) and it's extremely effective.

7. Do you have a Chimney?
Don't put off your chimney needs before using your fireplace "A common myth is that a chimney needs to be swept every year.  This is not necessarily true. A chimney should at least be inspected before use each year.

Ask for a Level 1 inspection, in which the professional examines the accessible portions of the chimney.

One other reminder - keep out cold air, fireplace owners should keep their chimney's damper closed when the fireplace isn't in use. And for the same reason, woodstove owners should have glass doors on their stoves, and keep them closed when the stove isn't in use.

8. Reverse that fan
"Reversing your ceiling fan is a small tip that people don't often think of.  By reversing its direction from the summer operation, the fan will push warm air downward and force it to recirculate, keeping you more comfortable. Here's how you know the fan is ready for winter: As you look up, the blades should be turning clockwise.

9. Wrap those pipes
A burst pipe caused by a winter freeze is a nightmare... so go looking for pipes that aren't insulated, or that pass through unheated spaces -- pipes that run through crawlspaces, basements or garages. Wrap them with pre-molded foam rubber sleeves or fiberglass insulation, available at hardware stores. If you're really worried about a pipe freezing, you can first wrap it with heating tape, which is basically an electrical cord that emits heat.

10. Finally, bundle up!