This is the first of many spotlights where I will recognizing PosiPeople community members for their contributions. Today, I want to recognize the PosiPeople user named, Jay K. (His username is “webuyitgreen”.) You can view his user profile and pieces he has submitted to PosiPeople.

Not only has Jay submitted several pieces of content to the forum, but he has also made sure that each submission was of high quality. I especially enjoyed all of his posts that explain the intricacies of fair trade. (I never realized how complicated the fair trade industry is.) Read the posts submitted to PosiPeople by Jay, I promise you will become smarter by reading them.

Also, if you like what Jay has done, feel free to visit his website or drop him a line.

Disclosure: At the time of the writing of this post, I have no financial relationships with any of the individuals interviewed.

PosiPeople, a new community-driven forum that highlights positive impact on society and the environment, has launched today. PosiPeople allows anyone to submit, vote, and comment on any content on the web that is about positive impact on society and the environment. Some examples of the content that PosiPeople gathers is organic food, renewable energy, recycling, hybrid/electric cars, climate change, and green issues. Anyone can register for a free PosiPeople account today.

PosiPeople works as follows:

1. Any member of the community submits a link to content that is about positive social or environmental impact.

2. The community then votes for the content they like best.

3. Content that receives the most votes in a certain period of time is published to the main page of the site.

Additional PosiPeople features allow users to connect with other users by interacting with them through comments, viewing their profile page, sending them a message, or adding them as a friend (a.k.a. a PosiPal).

A few testimonials from PosiPeople’s private beta test are listed below.

“I read the news everyday, and the amount of depressing information I get everyday really brings down my mood. However, PosiPeople shows that our world today is not as gloomy as it seems. It helps me feel good about the world we are living in, while also providing tips on how we can help make it better. I tend to be a negative person, but PosiPeople has helped me be more uplifting, and now I can always see the good in things” says Danwen, an early PosiPeople user.

“PosiPeople is more than just good news, it is a place where I can read and learn about best-in-class solutions to some of society’s most challenging problems. Public charities spent nearly $1 trillion dollars in 2007 solving these challenges,and the mainstream media is almost completely oblivious to the enormous impact that many of these charities are having. Many of these entrepreneurs are so absorbed in their work to improve others’ lives that they don’t have time nor want to promote themselves. People who enjoy and are good at promoting these entrepreneurs now have a venue to do so, and the general public now has a one-stop location where they can get real content and commentary about sincere, smart people making real impact.” says John, another early PosiPeople user.

“I like to read about the people out there who have inspirational stories to tell and who do great things to care for the environment and others. PosiPeople gathers all of these stories and it is the one place I visit often for the upbeat kind of content that I think the internet needs more of” says Evan, another PosiPeople user.

“PosiPeople is a great online resource for anyone who wants to find out more about the things that make a positive impact in our communities” says Pauline, another PosiPeople user.

Some of the additional uses of PosiPeople are listed below.

1. Save a link to an online article that you find interesting and appropriate for PosiPeople.
2. Share content with the PosiPeople community.
3. Find new content that is about positive impact on society or the environment.
4. Vote for content you feel is about or makes a positive impact.
5. Comment about interesting submissions.
6. Connect with other people who share a similar interest.
7. Entertain yourself as you read about amazing people and organizations that impact our lives in positive ways.

Join the community and register for you own free PosiPeople account!

I’m a big fan of concept cars. In one of my marketing classes we had to design and market a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and it was a lot of fun to research the subject.

The Chevy Beat is one of three subcompact concept cars unveiled by GM at the 2007 New York International Auto Show. Described by GM as “Designed to evoke the mood of a speedy micro import tuner, the Beat is a front-wheel-drive, three-door hatchback concept built to be personalized, and powered by a 1.2-liter turbocharged gasoline engine mated to an automatic transmission. It’s loaded with technology, including a navigation system and premium stereo.”

Why would you buy this tiny little car? The average fuel economy in the United States right now is around 25mpg and this little gadget can get you 40. That’s far more than most other vehicles in the US that run on gasoline. With gas prices at $4+/gal, who wouldn’t want to drive a fuel efficient car? It will be a nice alternative for people who are weary of alternative fueled vehicles. Or even people who are not fans of the Mini Cooper (like me).

I can’t really find any more information on this, except that they recently decided to switch over (or add in addition to?) from the Asian and Latin America markets to the US. I can’t even find a release date, but I think I remember reading something about a 2010 model. Anyone know?

This is a couple of days behind, but the beloved and renowned comedian George Carlin died at age 71 of heart failure at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California at 5:55pm PDT on June 22, 2008. Carlin was best known for the radical topics he used for his stand-up routines. His style often involved outrageous satire of the human species, as well as focus on American and Western Culture, such as obsession with fame and celebrity, consumerism, Christianity, political alienation, corporate control, hypocrisy, child raising, fast food diet, news stations, patriotism, and sexual taboos, among many others. Perhaps most famous for his “Seven Dirty Words” monologue, Carlin shocked America by using seven highly inappropriate and unsuitable words that were and are still censored on public airwaves.

Despite Carlin’s choice of negative topics, his satirical style was used to enlighten his audience and the general population to realize what kind of world we are living in. Many networks are holding tributes to George Carlin this week, including Apple iTune’s page of George Carlin standup. Saturday Night Live is paying tribute by re-airing the episode Carlin hosted in 1975 this Saturday, June 28 11:30pm EST. HBO is also running a special Wednesday through Saturday (June 25-28), featuring more than 11 of his standup routines. I suggest tuning in to some of these specials if you’ve never seen George Carlin perform before. His routines can make you both laugh until you cry and turn on a light bulb upstairs.

I’m going to leave with one of my favorite George Carlin quotes for some inspiration because it makes the most sense: “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts lately. The team at PosiPeople has been really busy getting PosiPeople ready for a public beta release. If you haven’t done so already, sign up to be a beta tester and you’ll see what we mean.  The team is very proud of PosiPeople!

For those of you who don’t know what PosiPeople is, it is a community-driven forum that highlights positive impact content on the web. What this means is that you, or anyone for that matter, can submit a link to the forum to anything on the web you think makes a positive impact on society and the environment. It can be an article on a news site, a video, an image, or a link to a particular product. You decide.

The only catch is that not every submission is published to the main page of the forum. Only submissions that the community votes for make it to the main page of the forum.

And, if you don’t feel like submitting anything to the forum, you can simply vote for a submission from another member of the community! Oh, and let’s not forget that you can also comment on someone else’s submission.

We look forward to opening up the forum to you soon and making a positive impact with you! Stay tuned!

Commuting is one of life’s major inconveniences…And in Boston, where driving has something in common with bloodsports, commuters may find the drive to work is filled with stress, aggression, and a lot of stop/start traffic.

The perils of commuting seem to be pretty universal. Positive psychologists (the happiness experts) report that people who have long commutes report that they are not as happy, perhaps because commuting cuts into time for friends, family, or more pleasurable activities. And it is hard to imagine routine, voluntary activities that are less pleasurable than a long commute.

Cycling to work is a great alternative to car commuting, especially if you live near dedicated cycling routes. Not only do you feel better (and happier, since good health correlates positively with feelings of well-being), but you can reduce your carbon emissions.

Bike to work week, scheduled from May 12-18 in Massachusetts, is a great opportunity to try commuting by bicycle. This year, the City of Boston is organizing the 50,000 Mile Commuter Challenge. Individuals and employers are encouraged to sign up. The goal is for participating cyclists to collectively cycle more than 50,000 miles during that week. Since May is National Bike Month, other states are also organizing events. For more information about cycling events in your area, check out the League of American Bicyclists.