improve your car-ma

You may be shocked, as I was, to learn that AAA - the 100 year old American institution for roadside assistance – is not all shiny, happy hotel discounts and pretty colored maps. Check this out: AAA uses membership money to lobby against things such as environmental and public transport initiatives. Ahk! We feel bad enough climbing into our cars for something so selfish as a roadtrip, but this really adds insult to injury.

photo courtesy of andrijbulba/creative commons

Even “Click and Clack”, another American institution as hosts of the NPR show “Car Talk”, had to comment on this: “We had no idea that part of our AAA dues were being spent on lobbyists who oppose just about everything having to do with public transportation. If AAA thinks that it’s a good idea for every single person to get to work in 3000 pounds of iron, we sure don’t want to help support such a silly idea.”

The good news is, there is a fantastic alternative!

Better World Club, the nation’s first and only environmentally friendly auto club, fills the AAA void and then some. In addition to offering top-notch roadside assistance, membership also gives you access to discounts on hybrid car rentals, eco-travel booking services, insurance services, car maintenance deals and—get this—bicycle roadside assistance services! And they give out free pretty colored maps.

A true company with a conscience, Better World donates 1% of its annual revenues to environmental efforts. Their great website is loaded with information on topics such as “How to take your bike on a plane”
and action alerts to rally the troops towards more positive political change in the realm of environment and transport.

Read more about AAA’s political sins here.