1) Forum reader Blackbadger is a 32 year old industrial designer whose looking into designing “a type of 'biocomposite' that will combine some type of reclaimed biomass with a totally natural resin or binding agent. Obviously the final product will need to be 100% inert, and not effect the wine in any way at all.” He would like to know, “if anyone here has any experience with eco-friendly resins or glues (for want of a better term), and would be interested in zipping me along a bit of information!”

2) Another reader, CarolinaJim has been informed by his wife that he is cooking. “So, I dusted off the recipe book and decided to cook corned beef and cabbage with carrots and potatoes; seasoned with the packet of spices and a red bay leaf plucked from the tree out back.” However, he wonders, which is greener, open pot or pressure cooker? “So, is using a pressure cooker green? I think so. Cuts down on the energy expended to cook food. Am I right?”

3) Frequent contributor mikebeavis decided to give LED bulbs a try. “I bought one and it came last week in the mail. So far I'm fascinated with it. It's producing about as much light as a 40-45 watt incandescent and it's drawing only 3 watts! Combined with one other CFL, I'm now lighting my basement with only 16 watts! Amazing stuff. If I switched out the CFL for a bigger 5-watt LED I could be lighting it with only 8 watts. Crazy!! “ I’m a big LED fan and user. I’ve cut my total wattage from lights each day more than half. I took the image to the left comparing a halogen with an LED. Which is which? Okay it is a little small to actually tell.

1) In the forums reader David Doggett is posting about LED and CFL's possibly not being as green as one might think. "Consider a house in winter...the house has a number of incandescent lights, all turned on, totaling 1000 Watts with an efficiency of 15 lm/W. The question is: How much will the consumer save by converting to LED lights with equal light output but with 150 lm/W efficiency? The answer may surprise you because the answer is ZERO. Why zero? Because the waste heat from those light bulbs goes to heat the house. Installing more electrically efficient lights just transfers the heat load over to the electrical heating system." An interesting thought, considering in one room in our house (office) we have a halogen fixture that keeps the room quite toasty.

2) User SoCalSolar is striking up a discussion of vampire devices (electronics that enter standby mode and never actually turn off - thereby sucking phantom watts of power) saying, "it is even estimated that the stand-by power alone in the USA could power all of Australia! I have a simple idea... not rocket science: Require makers of specified products to have an alternative "off" switch. The "It's really 'OFF' switch". DVD players, home entertainment, mircowaves, ovens, yada yada yada... Since it is not reasonable to expect everyone to go to power strips to turn off their stuff - and frankly it is not always possible to do this easily anyway - perhaps giving the option of full off is a thought." My own $.02, more investment in capacitor technologies.

3) Finally, we are looking for some solid volunteers to help us grow and maintain our forums. We want active members to help moderate or drive conversation. There will be some great schwag and benefits for those who really shine, but most important is continuing to provide a place for discussion and solutions. If you are interested, drop me a line here.

1) Forum member rosebytes needs help in searching for "practically clear" Low-E Window film for cooling during the summer months, but is having some trouble finding any. She's looking for anyone who might know of a source that isn't, "decorative, frosted or tinted."Does anyone out there know of any sources? I know a lot of frosted/decorative window film out there, but I can honestly say I've not done a search for Low-E film before.

2) ed is asking us to think about what we consider necessities in this day and age. "Today, new homes average more than 2,400 square feet, and there are fewer people living in them (about one person fewer, compared with the 1970s). Smaller homes cost less to buy, insure, heat, cool and maintain."Citing a Pew Research study, ed breaks down what we view as necessities today. You might be surprised at some of the results.

3) mikebeavis has an active topic and poll about whether you may have thought about installing a supplemental renewable energy source. The results of the poll are fascinating in that beyond the government providing tax benefits, they might want to consider a boost in education. See why.

1) Forum member ed posts about Solaria's attempt to cut the cost of solar cells "By cutting silicon solar cells into strips and using molded plastic to funnel light to them, Solaria is able to cut the cost of its solar panels." While mikebeavis wonders "As with so many things in the solar world, until you can actually buy the suckers as a homeowner, it's just so much fluff and PR. Good for them, hope they do well, but for the moment it probably doesn't affect 'We the Homeowners.'"

2) As a VW and Audi owner, I've been looking forward to a German answer to the Prius. User sniffmeister is looking at the VW Jetta Wagon TDI which claims to get 40 miles in the city and 60 on the highway. stins mentions there is a 69 MPG VW Golf hybrid on the way. Member eroell has the Passat Wagon diesel TDI and loves it, "On long trips I typically average over 40 mpg. The price of diesel is outrageous right now though. I just paid $3.99/gallon on my last fill-up. But, I would highly recommend a VW TDI to anyone ... great cars." By the way, the average price of diesel in February was $3.38 and climbing, which leads me to the next topic...

3) With the cost of diesel fuel going through the roof and our entire food chain in the US reliant on diesel (trains, farms, tractor trailers), the cost of everything in the grocery store is going up. Just this past weekend I overheard a restaurant owner talking about how their cost for flour doubled in one month (of course this includes the weak dollar and the increase in corn production as well). Which leads me to ask...is anyone out there planning a garden this year to combat the rising cost of food? Are you already planning for next winter? What are your strategies? Join the discussion.

1) New Forums user Damien Jones (welcome!) is looking to do some green retrofitting: "The basic question I have is whether it is better to retrofit my 1970's bungalow (2x4 framing) with a geothermal/geoexchange system or to re-insulate/side it and replace all the windows (the attic insulation is fairly recent and appears adequate). I suspect the costs will be about the same, but I am concerned about having to replace the existing cedar siding, at least partially, if insulation is added to the outside of the house." Any green builders out there that can help?

2) Another new user, draginol (and welcome to you, too!) has another building-related issue to talk out: "Anyway, I'm one of those people who are definitely 'part of the problem' but I am in the process of building a new home. I want to build it to decrease its impact on the environment as much as possible. I am not as concerned with going green to 'save money in the long term' as much as I simply want to lower my impact. Are there any good guides for building high end homes that are trying to be green?" There is a lot of ground to cover here...

3) Lastly, Forums user Casa Verde starts a quick poll about energy prices in your neck of the woods. Casa Verde is in Puerto Rico, where energy is $0.27 per kWh, and, judging by responses from other users, that's on the high end; other users check in at $0.07 per kWh, $0.097 per kWh, $0.14 per kWh, and that's not including the renewable energy options that are available to many of us. Still, the average seems to be just about $0.10 per kWh; compared to the $0.27/kWh that Casa Verde pays, another user comments that perhaps its time to look in to some residential solar power.

1) Forums user NReiter has a question about some recycling rumors for the community: "and im not sure this is true...but I've heard that water bottles do not get recycled if they have the caps still on them..is there any truth in that ? also, anything like milk jugs or peanut butter jars that are "contaminated" with food are immediately thrown out because of the food particles in them...is that real ?" The consensus, so far, seems to be...it all depends.

2) User Ian Gordon has a plan to start a farmstead and he's sticking to it. "I'm definitely up for getting my own place, a plot of land. I've got savings and the like to buy a plot. I'll probably need to do everything myself to get a self sufficient house built and operating and a garden and the like to supply it. Anyone have any hints. I've already got my home defense consultant.." It looks like Australia is the intended locale, and there's apparently a lot to learn...

3) Lastly, Forums user joelcere is looking for some input on eco-travel and sustainable tourism: "I am working on a business project in the area of sustainable tourism / eco-resorts. I would like to hear your opinion about eco-tourism. The aim is to get data to test our assumptions. Your input will make a difference on how we launch and market our project." As another user notes, "There is a lot of bull in the Eco Tourism sector of the tourism industry," so here's your chance to talk about what works and what doesn't.

1) Forums user GreenTraveler says, "Believe it or not, empty guest rooms are a leading cause of wasted energy…possibly even the leading cause of wasted energy in travel. How many times have you left the lights on in your hotel room without thinking twice about it? It seems when we're not the ones footing the bill, it's easier to forget about the ecological impact of our actions." Interesting point about going green while on the go; what do you think?

2) User the boz is looking to start a garden: "I'd like to see if anyone can recommend a book or site that would help me get started with growing a garden. My house is in Houston, TX, so I need things that can stand the heat, and that I can grow to take advantage of our (mostly) lack of winter. In addition to that, since I don't have a lot of time to spend gardening every day, I need things that require almost no attention, save watering and some basic stuff up front." Master gardeners, do you any tips?

3) Forums user Mark Goldes takes note of a new power generator: "GENIE generators are expected to replace the need to plug-in a plug-in hybrid. Two kW is all the power that can be taken from a typical wall socket. A pair of 1 kW GENIE generators are expected to demonstrate a compact, inexpensive, capability to end the need to plug-in, prior to the end of this year." Is this for real?

1) Forums user is curious about air pollution and air quality in the US; specifically, he's looking for "some map of US that shows which states are cleaner of different kinds of air pollution than others?" We recommend checking out the American Lung Association's 2007 Air Quality Report, which lists the top 25 cities for long-term particulate pollution levels, and the Realtime Air Quality Mashup By AIRNow, which, as the name suggests, delivers information in real-time about where the air quality is good (and where it's bad) in the US. Anyone else?

2) User ed wonders "What would you use an 'Urban Electric Pickup' for?" The stats, for a Tata gas truck with a Chrysler Electric engine, apart from the drivetrain, top speed -- 39.7 MPH -- and various other battery-related modifications, are quite similar to a regular truck, especially the important part when considering a pick-up: over 7 feet of load body space. Pick-ups get sort of a bad rap when it comes to green, but, if this worked, would mean a whole new ballgame. Would you consider using one for short-distance hauling?

3) Lastly, an oldie-but-goodie thread from last spring gets revived. Way back in May, Forums user bradbissell had a very common TreeHugger problem: "I have attempted to find a CFL that match the incandescent bulbs I currently use. but I can't find any that match the light output. Which CFL will best match the light output/color of these bulbs?" The thread got batted around for a week or so, and dropped off the Forums map, until this past weekend, when the old thread got new life with some opinions about which CFLs are the best bet for light quality, light quantity, non-flickering and non-buzzing. Which are your favorites?

1) Forums user Nova wants to talk green cars: "What do you all think about Chrylser LLC building a certified Chrysler Green dealership? Plus spending $3 billion in new fuel technology to improve fuel efficiency." Early word in the thread is something like, "Yeah, it's okay, but when are we going to see this new technology and these new concepts?" It's a balance: you have to walk before you can run, but talk of investing in new technology only gets us so far. Where do you come down on this?

2) Speaking of green cars that actually exist, user Hydrotopia says, "If you watch the half hour video with Tesla owner Elon Musk you'll see he discusses the various performance statistics of his car. He claims it costs $3-$4 in electricity to charge the car which then gets 220-260 miles of range from that charge. He claims it takes about 60Kw's to charge the Roadster. We get power at 10 cents a Kwh down here so it would be about $6 to 'fill' the Tesla's tank." That works out to 110 - 130 real world miles per gallon...not too shabby.

3) Lastly, Forums user ev101 has a dilly of a pickle: "I work for a company that makes labor law posters, a product that changes frequently and unpredictably. This leaves us with product (17" x 24" pieces of laminated paper) that can't be sold. I am looking for a way to avoid throwing so many of these away on a monthly basis. Does anyone have ideas for reusing or recycling?"