Electronic waste is a big environmental issue, and we’ve covered numerous ways that both electronics companies and consumers can reduce the amount of e-waste headed for landfills. While most recent efforts focus on reuse and/or recycling (which are both important), Israeli site FixYa harnesses "crowd power" (ie, social media) to help people fix their electronics rather than disposing of them. The main motivation behind FixYa was the increasing lack of technical support provided for consumer electronics, but Yaniv Ben Saadon told us that there’s a green element to the site’s mission:

By allowing more and more consumers to successfully operate and mend their products, FixYa decreases the number of products that are discarded and eventually pollute our environment. Although globalization and competition drive the average consumption of consumer products to increase over time, the usability of these products decreases as they become more technologically advanced and challenging to operate. Moreover, since manufacturers are under growing pressure to release their products to their markets, often these products are mass produced before they are properly designed. The result is that the products we buy are cheaper than they were before, yet more challenging to operate.

From gaming systems to washing machines, FixYa’s user have already provided a wide range of "fix-it" advice. Ben Saadon shared with us some of the most popular problems, and the highest-ranked solutions, addressed on the site.

1. A Clacking Xbox with Three Flashing Red Lights

User Carl26 walks a panicked gamer through the process of fixing this problem with the GPU memory.

2. Another Flashing Light… on a Kenmore Dish Washer

Expert qqwweer shows how to reset the light.

3. Ipod Keeps Displaying "Do Not Disconnect"

User Yung offers four different approaches to this problem.

4. Sansa MP3 Player Won’t Turn On

User chrism provides a really simple solution to this really aggravating problem.

5. DVD Player’s P-SCAN Split-Screen Keeps Coming On

User spyder99 shows that sometimes a solution is as easy as flipping a switch… if you know where that switch is located.

These are just a few examples of how FixYa’s brand of social media provides solutions for users’ pocketbooks and the envionment. Ben Saadon notes

Through the collaboration of a community of consumers, FixYa encourages its users to learn from the experience of others on how to properly use and fix their products. The result is that more and more consumers are able to successfully operate their existing products rather than replace them with newer ones, and thus help to reduce the number of products that ended up polluting our environment.

And, if throwing your problem out to the community isn’t your style, FixYa also features a massive collection of manuals and troubleshooting guides.

From the feedback we've received and the numbers we've seen, Weekly DIY has turned out to be a really popular series on the Green Options blog. While the series' coordinator Ryan and the writers are always on the hunt for new green DIY projects to feature here, we're pretty sure that you've got a DIY that you'd like to share with the Green Options community. Now you can!

We've created a submission form for Weekly DIY suggestions, and we invite you to send us an overview of your project. Ryan will go through submissions on a regular basis, and pick the best of the bunch. If we choose your project, Ryan will get in touch for details and photos. We'll then feature the project under your byline: you'll be the Weekly DIY guest blogger of the week.

No project is too big or small: as long as it helps people "green the good life," we're interested. We look forward to your submissions, and, as always, thank you for participating in the Green Options community!

When most people hear the word "solar," they automatically think "expensive." Gary Reysa, the publisher of BuildItSolar.com, has demonstrated again and again that this doesn't have to be the case; with the right (easily-available) materials and a little time and elbow grease, almost anyone can add useful, valuable solar features to their home or other building.

Gary's $350 Solar Heater plan has gotten quite a bit of play both on- and off-line — I was one of a number of bloggers to write about it, and Home Power magazine and Mother Earth News have also featured the project. That's not surprising — for a really small investment in time and money, Gary now has a clean, green heater for his workshop. Keep in mind that he lives in Montana, too; if this works for him there, it will likely work for you, too.

Materials

Please note: I've included the dimensions from Gary's plan, but you'll probably need to adjust them. As he notes in the article from Home Power, you'll want to have as big a wall space as possible.

• 10 Suntuf corrugated polycarbonate panels, 2 x 8 ft.
• Black window screen, 4 x 70 ft.
• Lower sill & studs, 2 x 6s, 68 ft.
• Paint, caulk, lag screws, etc.
• Upper sill, 2 x 8s, 22 ft.
• Glazing 1 x 1 in. supports, 130 ft.
• Suntuf “wiggle” closure strips, 40 ft.
• 200 Screws with EPDM washers

Build Your Solar Heater

Gary's the pro here, so rather than trying to excerpt or edit his instructions, I'll let him take over… from the Mother Earth News and Home Power articles:

It took me about three, eight-hour days to build and install the collector. Follow these suggestions and you may be able to do it in less time!

1. First, measure your building’s south wall to determine what changes you will have to make to the collector design. Pay particular attention to the vertical height available and to stud spacing. Next, lay out the vent locations. They should be offset enough from the wall studs to allow the verticals to be lag-bolted from inside the building. Mark the vent locations on the inside and outside of the building to ensure no conflicts exist. After you are certain the layout is correct, take a deep breath, and cut all of the vents.
2. For the frame, cut the top sill long enough to lap over the end verticals by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bevel the back of the top sill so that it slopes about 10 degrees when fitted against the siding. Next, cut all the verticals, noting that the two end verticals are longer because they extend below the lower sill. The tops of the verticals must be cut to match the slope of the top sill. Gang the verticals together and cut the notches for the two, 1- by 1-inch horizontal glazing supports.
3. Prime and paint everything. Although you do not need to repaint the siding under the collector, painting it a dark color will improve the collector’s efficiency slightly. Keep in mind that a muted version of this color will show through the collector screen, so be sure it meets your aesthetic sensibilities. After the paint has cured, mount all of the verticals to the siding. Take care to keep everything level, plumb, and straight—this will save you a lot of four-letter words later. I fastened the verticals to the wall sheathing and siding from the inside using lag bolts. If your siding is not strong enough for this, consider mounting the verticals from the outside, using lag screws through the verticals and into the wall studs.
4. Next, attach the top and bottom sills. Use flashing above the top sill if desired. Then, seal the collector frame with silicone caulk. Mount the battens that will support the screen absorber. Staple the window screen onto the battens. You can fold the edges of the screen to make it fit in the slightly less than 48-inch (122 cm) bay widths.
5. Make five 4- by 8-foot (1.2 x 2.4 m) glazing panels by joining pairs of the 26-inch-wide by 8-foot-long corrugated panels. Overlap the panels by one corrugation, and apply a light bead of silicone between the overlapped sheets. Fasten the overlapped corrugations to a 1- by 1-inch wood strip using screws with EPDM washers.
6. Install the horizontal 1- by 1-inch glazing support strips to the collector frame. The surface of the strips should sit flush with the surface of the collector’s frame when installed in the notches of the 2 by 6s. Do any cleanup, caulking, or other work you need to do inside the collector frame now! You won’t be able to get to the inside after the glazing is applied.
7. Next, mount the glazing panels. Install the “wiggle” closure strips, which fill in the contours of the corrugations, on the top and bottom sills. Run caulk beads on the first set of verticals and mount the first glazing panel section. (You’ll quickly find out how square your frame is.) Fasten the panel sections to the frame using screws with EPDM washers. Install the rest of the sections in the same way. Overlap each new section over the last section by one corrugation, using a bead of caulk in the overlap. Make the flapper valves for the ten inside top vents. I used two thicknesses of plastic garbage bag for each flapper. Before attaching the flapper, attach 1/2-inch hardware cloth over each vent. Then, staple the flappers along the top edge of the vent, just above the vent opening.

That's it! Want to find out more about the science behind this, or the performance of the unit. Check out the article.

Editor's note: "Weekly DIY" is a new Green Options blog series that will show you green projects, both small and large, that you can do yourself with readily available materials.

Worm composting is one of those practices that's going to earn you strange looks — mention your "worm bin," and you'll inevitably see a raised eyebrow, often followed by the question "What's a worm bin?"

If you live in an urban or suburban setting, though, using red worms to transform your organic trash (fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, etc.) into usable compost (in this case, worm poop… or "castings") takes us a lot less space than the traditional pile or bin, and will likely keep your neighbors happier.

While a number of worm bins are available for sale, I found that it was much cheaper to make my own. After digging around online, I found a great plan at the Whatcom County (Washington) Agriculture site.

So let's build a worm bin!

What You Need:

• Two 8-10 gallon plastic storage boxes (dark, not see-through). I took a trip to Target and picked up two Rubbermaid containers with lids. Don't remember the price offhand, but very reasonable.
• A drill with 1/4" and 1/16" bits
• Shredded newspaper (for bedding)
• A pound of redworms. You can order these online, but I went to the local bait shop.

Make Your Worm Bin

From the Whatcom County site:

1. Drill about twenty evenly spaced 1/4 inch holes in the bottom of each bin. These holes will provide drainage and allow the worms to crawl into the second bin when you are ready to harvest the castings.
2. Drill ventilation holes about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart on each side of the bin near the top edge using the 1/16 inch bit. Also drill about 30 small holes in the top of one of the lids.
3. Prepare bedding for the worms by shredding Newspaper into 1 inch strips. Worms need bedding that is moist but not soggy. Moisten the newspaper by soaking it in water and then squeezing out the excess water. Cover the bottom of the bin with 3-4 inches of moist newspaper, fluffed up. If you have any old leaves or leaf litter, that can be added also. Throw in a handful of dirt for "grit" to help the worms digest their food.
4. Add your worms to the bedding. One way to gather redworms, is to put out a large piece of wet cardboard on your lawn or garden at night. The redworms live in the top 3 inches of organic material, and like to come up and feast on the wet cardboard! Lift up cardboard to gather the redworms. For example, if your food waste averages 1/2 lb. per day, you will need 1 lb. of worms or a 2:1 ratio. There are roughly 500 worms in one pound. If you start out with less than one pound, don't worry they multiply very quickly. Just adjust the amount that you feed them for your worm population.
5. Cut a piece of cardboard to fit over the bedding, and get it wet. Then cover the bedding with the Step 5cardboard. (Worms love cardboard, and it breaks down within months.)
6. Place your bin in a well-ventilated area such as a laundry room, garage, balcony, under the kitchen sink, or outside in the shade. Place the bin on Step 6top of blocks or bricks or upside down plastic containers to allow for drainage. You can use the lid of the second bin as a tray to catch any moisture that may drain from the bin. This "worm tea" is a great liquid fertilizer.
7. Feed your worms slowly at first. As the worms multiply, you can begin to add more food. Gently bury the food in a different section of the bin each week, under the cardboard. The worms will follow the food scraps around the bin. Burying the food scraps will help to keep fruit flys away. What do worms like to eat? Feed your worms a vegetarian diet. Most things that would normally go down the garbage disposal can go into your worm bin (see the list below). You will notice that some foods will be eaten faster than others. Worms have their preferences just like us.

The Whatcom County site also has information on what to feed your worms (and what not to), and some troubleshooting tips. For more information on worm composting, you can also visit my Composting with Worms Squidoo lens.