Guests:

Fabrizio Ciccone is here to talk about his new eco-restaurant, Agri in South Minneapolis... an organic restaurant, where the focus is eating great food grown locally using sustainable methods. This sounds like a winning combination - local, organic, sustainable! Go check 'em out for dinner or brunch. Open Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 10pm, Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 10pm.  Located at 4300 Bryant S - in South Minneapolis.  Visit their website: http://cafeagri.com/ for more details.

Toby Velte from Microsoft joins us today to help us understand ways we can save money and energy with our electronic devices.  From vampire loads to making sure your computer goes into sleep mode, there are several ways to save energy without spending a dime.  Plug your TV, stereo and other electronics into a power strip and turn them off when they are not in use.  Shop for Energy Star rated appliances, computers and televisions.  Toby talks to us about ways Microsoft prodcuts are helping us save energy using their Power Management tools, sleep mode and more.  Learn what turning off all of your computers and virtualization drive server consolidation can do for your business!  This is a great segment for homeowners and business owners.

Green Info and Tips:

Dark Green Tip #492 - Try a Natural Swimming Pool

Natural swimming pools have been somewhat popular in Europe for a few decades (where they are often called natural swimming ponds), and they work by fostering the balance of a small natural ecosystem. Managed properly, natural pools have alpine lake-clear water that requires no chemicals to maintain. They have lower maintenance costs than conventional pools, and their installation costs are typically not much more. The key is to establish a zone of aquatic plants around or adjacent to the swimming area, which filter out contaminants from the water.

Chlorine is known to be harsh on skin and hair, and a number of studies have linked inhalation of the chemical by swimmers to increased asthma rates.

All Green Tip #998 - Get yourself an Organic Latex Mattress

Here are four GREAT reasons to consider purchasing an organic latex mattress from Twin Cities Green:

FLAME RESISTANT CHEMICALS: All mattresses are Federally mandated to withstand a 70 second blast from a blowtorch without setting on fire.  Most mattress companies achieve this result the cheap and easy way by treating the fibers of the mattress with PBDEs (PolyBrominated Diphenyl Ethers) or DECA (decabromodiphenyl ether), questionable substances that have been banned from use in Europe and several US States. DECA has been classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA. In contrast, Twin Cities Green's latex mattresses contain no harmful or potentially harmful chemicals and achieve thier flame resistantness from all natural wool.

SYNTHETIC MATERIALS: Petroleum based plastics, foams and polyesters—used heavily in most mainstream mattresses, can emit toxic gasses that you inhale and absorb throughout the night. Commercially processed cotton is grown with the use of pesticides, potentially contributing to your nightly dose of chemicals as well.  Twin Cities Green's mattresses contain no synthetics and utilize clean plant based materials like rubber and organic cotton as well as wool from organically raised sheep.

DUST MITES: Most people happily co-exist with these little creatures as they make meals out of our sloughed off skin cells. However, an individual who is allergically sensitive the dust mite's waste, sleeps for eight hours every night with his nose in direct contact with a pillow loaded with dust mite particles! There may be many as 19,000 dust mites in one gram of dust, but usually between 100 to 500 mites live in each gram. Egg-laying females can add 25 to 30 new mites to the population during their lifetime. Mites eat particles of skin and dander, so they thrive in places where there are people. Dust mites don't bite, and cannot spread diseases. They are harmful only to people who become allergic to them. While usual household insecticides have no effect on dust mites, there are ways that allergic people can reduce their exposure.  Latex and wool are natural dust mite deterrants and do a significant job of decreasing exposure. Further, a dust mite proof barrier cloth can be utilized for mattresses, pillows, duvets, and toppers. The fibers of the barrier cloth have been heat tightened to a less than six micron opening - not allowing the passage of the mites through the fabric.