3 discoveries on a Saturday morning.

Ronni Bennett, over at Time Goes By, one of the best elder blogs on the net (cutting commentary, says what others don't want to say, fantastic finds, elder gems), found this wonderful Google offering and shares it. A great way to figure out ways to save money and lessen your carbon footprint at the same time! Plus additional tips for the energy conscious.

In the theme of less is more, Rhea Becker, at The Boomer Chronicles, discovers the joys of barter. Back in the 1980's and 90's, there were barter clubs. My mother, who was talented and a bit on cash-strapped side, took part in barter clubs with great success. As well, one summer we traded houses with a Parisian family and enjoyed their beautiful home and car for 3 weeks while they explored Canada and the US with our home as their base and our station wagon! It was a great adventure, a smashing success and no money changed hands.

And my last discovery of the morning is that my very unscientific voting poll on my blog (with only 9 days left til the election) is giving Barack Obama 69% of the vote with 28% going to John McCain. Just a few days ago the numbers were MUCH closer together and now the spread is growing. Is it possible that many of my readers lean Democrat? Yup. Is it possible that many of you don't want to make your vote known? Yup. But I find it very interesting that the spread is increasingly so significantly the closer we get to the election.

On-Star is Literally on the Money

OK. Here's a bit of good news for our pocketbooks. How many of you drive less than 15,000 miles a year? Well, if you do, here is a great perk from OnStar, the comprehensive in-vehicle security, communications, and diagnostics system that I have personally fallen in love with. (Just to give a bit of background, my new car last year, a Buick Terraza, came with a free one-year subscription to OnStar. I thought I'd never renew, but I'm now a huge fan and can't imagine not having the service.) And, no, this is not an ad for OnStar, I'm not getting paid by them to write this and I'm not receiving any type of perk. This just happens to be a really good program linked to a very good vehicle concierge service.

The full kit and kaboodle program at OnStar is about $300/year and because I am constantly in need of directions, really have gotten fond of the turn-by-turn directions. With real people answering the phones ("Thank you for calling OnStar. How can we assist you today, Ms. Spiegel?"...gotta love it) this is one concierge service that is very handy for me. Can't find a restaurant? I can call up and they'll do a search for me. Forgot to bring the phone number of the business I'm heading to? Call up and they'll access it for me. Every month I get an email diagnostic of my car's maintenance needs. Plus, plus, plus. It isn't for everyone, but for me, it is a win-win.

Now, OnStar has added in a Low Mileage Program that is sure to make a lot of 50 plussers pretty happy. If you drive less than 15,000 miles a year, GMAC car insurance will discount your insurance rate. Other insurance companies are apparently coming on board soon, and not all states currently offer the GMAC plan (like MY state of California...) but if I had OnStar and lived in a state that did offer the discount, I'd definitely look into it.

Here is a link to the OnStar discount program. I'm just waiting for it to come to California and I'm planning on offsetting my cost of OnStar with lower insurance. Win-win!

A Lean, Green, Driving Machine?

I had a great chuckle the other day. As I was driving back from an appointment with a client, I saw a Prius decked out in a very sharp skin. It was a car that belonged to Drivers Ed Direct. I'd never noticed the company before, so I took a good look and it appeared that this was the newest iteration of driving school. They are touting their "green-ness" which is great, and their safety standards, which is awesome. However, the entire left back bumper of the Prius was...well...badly dented.


Aside from the fact that the Prius is one of the most battered cars I've ever seen (knocked off side mirrors, dented bumpers, smashed trunks, etc.) it was just so funny to me to see a drivers "ed"-gy green car where a driving lesson had obviously gone so very wrong. I don't know...maybe it is just me.

Smart Car Move Over...Axon is Here.

What would you say to 80 mpg when oil is over $130/barrel? That is what Axon Automotive is bringing to the table. If you like what you see, head over and read about the racing car technology that promises to lighten up the load and reduce gas consumption.

Earth Day...Whatcha doin?

It's Earth Day and many people (myself included) pay more lip service than actual impactful service to reducing carbon emissions and preserving the planet.

But there is an organization that has found an incredible, reasonable and effective way to bring both attention and resources to carbon offsetting. About a month ago, I participated in a web conference held only for bloggers (these are becoming quite popular and I get asked to participate quite often -- it's a phone conference with bloggers, the questions and interchange are honest and frankly, great, and we get a link of the audio recording to share with our readers.)

The organization is Brighter Planet. Jonathan Isham Jr and Andy Rossmeissl , cofounders of Brighter Planet, created this new company to empower individuals to take on climate change. (Isham is also Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics at Middlebury College .)

How?

By creating a frequent user Brighter Planet/Bank of America credit card program where the benefits go directly to offset carbon emissions and YOUR carbon footprint. Fantastic? I thought so. Here is the full interview. If you don't have the time for the full interview, please, please, on this Earth day, head over to Brighter Planet, educate yourself on what they are doing, and on the types of things you can do to better the planet (and, yes, changing your light bulbs to fluorescent really DOES make a difference.)

Here's a brief on the company, sent to me by Cindy Samuels, a phenomenal PR power in her own right:

"A socially responsible company, Brighter Planet offers innovative products and services to help create a sustainable future for the planet and its people. They provide individuals with practical tools, like their recently launched Credit Card that fights global warming by investing in premium renewable energy projects instead of encouraging further consumerism with rewards like airline miles.

Brighter Planet’s innovative carbon impact tools were recently featured on ReadWriteWeb ( http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/brighter_planet.php). They encourage individuals to make a profile on their website, calculate their carbon footprint, and watch their footprint shrink with certain choices in products and lifestyle."

Why should you be interested? Because you, like me, seek ways to both reduce out “carbon footprint”, but also join in the fight to halt global warming.

Happy Earth Year.

Al Gore, Nobel, Going Green and Finding Jobs at 50 plus

I was listening to a snippet of Al Gore's acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. His efforts on advocating for green actions to reduce and/or adapt to global warming are quite exceptional. A few things struck me.

1) He had to reinvent himself after a particularly hard fall. Not much can be more humbling or devastating than to lose a federal election in the way he did.

2) He has dedicated himself to the cause of our global environment.

3) He is 50 plus (he's 59.)

I have an idea just circling around in my head. I'm not sure where I'm going with it yet, but it definitely has to do with connecting 50 plus jobseekers, global warming, and green action to address the planetary crisis we are finding ourselves in.

Just a few thoughts:

• What if 50 plussers who were having trouble finding work focused on jobs that were non-polluting and for the betterment of the planet? Like education. Like customer service. (Kelly Services is working with Gen Plus to post 50 plus friendly jobs...specifically in education.)


• What if 50 plussers only purchased hybrids, electrics or alternative vehicles for their next car?


• What if 50 plussers got involved with solar and alternative energy companies, became advocates for reducing greenhouse gases?


• What if?

There is a connection here. I've got my antennae up.

The Air Car

I've been looking for the right car for me for the past year. I drive a luxury mini-van that happens to be fairly fuel-efficient and would love to move to an electric, hybrid or some sort of vehicle that is more "green" and also gives me the versatility I'm looking for in a mini-van.

I've found it. Not here yet, but MDI in France has developed The Air Car...a car that runs on compressed air under 30 mph and switches to fuel for higher speed driving. It is cute as a button AND comes in a "van" style (pictured above left is the Mini-Cat -- the tiny city version) similar to the SMART car (above right, which I fell in love with in Italy), although I like the MDI family version of the car, too (pictured below). 2, 4 and 6 cylinder version and at a sweet, sweet price -- well under $20K for the fully loaded versions. Coming out in summer 2008 in France and India. I'm on the wait list for the US.