A coating and bonding composition is disclosed. The composition includes suspending, bonding and thinning agents, and a metallic flake. The composition may be used with an environmentally friendly lubricating composition to form an environmentally friendly lubricating system for protecting threaded connections from galling or other damage. That system may be used in a method for protecting threaded connections that includes the steps of: coating me threads, prior to make-up, with the coating and bonding composition and then coating them with the environmentally friendly lubricating composition, after the coated threads have dried.