A website called “Eco New” www.econewonline.com wants your used gadgets .. and they’ll pay you for the trouble.

Check the website, and find out how much your old cell phone, MP3 player, laptop, etc is worth.  Take the gadget to any Office Depot, and they’ll help you send it along.  Send it along, and it will get recycled, and you’ll get a gift card.

You’ve helped the environment, and you have some extra money in your pocket.  It’s that simple.

If you are, and you’re in the Silicon Valley, we’ve done the legwork for you. 

Tonight at 11 o’clock, we’ve got the Top 5 companies hiring here in the Valley.  As for who they are .. we made sure to span several hot areas, and (spoiler alert) hit on five companies growing (and hiring) like crazy.

First off, Ooyala .. this is the Google spin-off that’s changing the way companies put video online.  A great start-up atmosphere, but more importantly, they’re successful, and growing rapidly.

Next, Tesla .. a no-brainer here, the electric car company just announced plans to build a new HQ in San Jose, and needs to hire hundreds of employees to make it happen.

Speaking of saving energy, solar is, as we’ve mentioned before, booming.  Visiting the headquarters of Solar City, you see why .. the phones are rining off the hook with people wanting to use the company’s financing plan to put solar panels on their roofs.  This company has already doubled in size .. it needs to do so again to keep up with demand.

Biotech has been a Bay Area standout for some time now .. on top of huge stock gains and life-saving drugs (or, more likely because of them), Gilead Sciences (GILD) of Foster City says it will expand, doubling the size of its HQ, and hiring a ton to do it.

Finally, given what we hear about constantly on the news these days, you’d think a bank would be the last place to send your resume.  Not so Wells Fargo (WFC), though.  This bank (based in San Francisco) stayed smart and conservative while other banks torpedoed themselves with bad loans.  Wells is growing, and hiring. 

Bets of luck, and I’d love to know if this helps anybody out there get a job.

Admittedly a tough one, given that my job each night is to tell you how much money we’ve all lost .. and why Wall Street is, along with our government, losing public trust by the day.

That said, check out the price of gas:  Yes, it may be hard to get excited about $3.60 a gallon, but consider that it’s more than a dollar less than what we were paying just a couple of months ago.  Add to that a drop in some grocery prices, and there’s money to be saved in our day-to-day lives, even if our paper wealth is dwindling.

Another siliver lining?  Growth in a company called www.mint.com.  If you haven’t seen this, check it out.  It’s a great way to see, and manage, all of your finances, and really get a handle on what you’re spending your money on.  Gas, food, recreation, stocks, 401-k, it’s all there.  A new and easy way to track your money, and see what’s really going on. 

Sobering, yes, but something we should all be doing these days.  If nothing else comes from this mess than more of us keeping better track of our money at a site like Mint.com, it’s a good start.

So .. we want to help.

I’m putting together a piece on the top 5 places to find a job here in the Bay Area….Tech? Solar? Retail?  (dare I even say) Finance?  What do you think?

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them here, or at scott.budman@nbc.com.

We’re already beating the bushes .. and looking for ideas.

For proof, I offer up the Plug and Play Expo, happening in Sunnyvale.  It’s where startups meet VCs, business cards fly across the room, dozens upon dozens of pitches get heard .. and deals get done.

Among the startups we saw today are www.mylawsuit.com, a way to help both lawyers and plaintiffs get organized.  As you can imagine, this table had a steady stream of people asking questions about everything from housing, to divorce.

Also, www.apprema.com, a site aiming at the gift-giving market.  Especially in tough times, this will make sending gifts, corporate or personal, faster, easier, and cheaper.

And how about www.everywun.com .. this could change the way philanthropy is handled .. giving you a ridiculously easy way to contribute to a number of charities with the click of a mouse.

For the startups, it was a chance to meet investors, and hear from the likes of Scott McNealy and super VC Tim Draper.  For the investors, a chance to get a bead on what’s on the horizon.  Hint:  Lots of web apps, aimed at making our lives more efficient.

We wish them luck.

Well, actually, there is high finance, if you consider how incredibly successful Sprinkles Bakery is.  They make cupcakes, and trust me (because I was just at the Palo Alto grand opening), people are willing to wait in line for 30 minutes to get their hands on one.

Candace and Charles Nelson were investment bankers, who decided on a career change.  it’s more than just good timing – it’s their passion.  With the help of Oprah, Tyra Banks, and Hollywood buzz from the likes of Katie Holmes, their cupcakes are now famous, and known all over the place.

The Nelsons admit it’s been tough watching many of their friends suffer through the current banking crisis.  Maybe they can make some of their lives a little sweeter .. they’re certainly succeeding like gangbusters with their latest career.

 Through it all, though, one thing really stood out to me:  In the midst of bank failures, buyouts, and massive stock drops, one banking giant (based in the Bay Area, no less) saw its stock prtice actually hit an all-time high on friday. Not a small boutique bank, mind you – Wells Fargo.

I got the chance to put the “how in the world…” question to Wells Executive VP Lisa Stevens, who puts it simply:  her bank didn’t make creative, no-money down loans like the other banks did.

Seems simple now, but I actually remember Wells Fargo being crirticized some time ago for falling behind when it came to no-interest, no money down loans.  Now, that strategy looks positively brilliant.

Now, as of this morning, I check the stocks, and see Wells giving up some of its recent gains.  The same can be said for the much smaller, Bay Area-based SVB Financial, which also hit an all-time high friday.  So, no bank is totally immune from uncertainty, but had you stuck with Wells through all of this, you would have been rewarded, while other bank investors are biting their fingernails.

Sometimes, being boring pays off.

Tonight at 11 o’clock, we visit the company’s Palo Alto HQ itself, to talk with founder Mark Zuckerberg about where the company goes from here.  Because if you’re one of those 100 million users, you also know that the site is changing.  Some have already written us to say they like the change, some to say they don’t like it. 

Zuckerberg, to be fair, addresses both those groups, and says he respects that people who spend a lot of time and energy on the website are bound to feel connected and passionate about it.

For someone surrounded by so much hype and speculation (and, let’s be honest, for someone so young to be sourrounded by those things…), Zuckerberg seems to be very thoughtful, and understanding about what’s going on around him and the company he started.

We even got him to tell us, in a one-word answer, if he plans to stay in the top spot for awhile.  Tune in to hear for yourself.

But what do people think along non-partisan lines?  We now have an idea, thanks to a survey taken by the website www.bettyconfidential.com

Based here in the Silicon Valley, “Betty” is aimed at women, and it’s asking women what they think of Palin, both politically and otherwise.  The results, spelled out in detail on the website, are interesting.  Women seem to be jazzed that Palin is on the ticket, even if they don’t plan to vote for her.  Maybe something Democrats need to think about .. instead of just trying to discredit her, it may be time to realize that her mere presence is firing people up, maybe even to vote for the first time in a long time.  If that happens, it’s good for the country.

Also interesting .. the great majority of those who responded say they won’t vote for the Republican ticket simply because it has a woman on it.  Another indication that Palin’s candidacy is getting attention from both sides of the aisle.

Tonight at 6, we’ll talk to the founder of Betty Confidential, about her survey, and what they plan to ask next.  Stay tuned.

We heard from CEOs, Government officials, consumers, and businesspeople in the audience, and it struck me that, unlike most business propositions, virtually everybody is on the same page:  Renewable energy is what they want, to buy, to sell, and to help save the environment.  If they can get it/sell it at a fair price, look out.

The problems?  Government regulation, and a lack of tax breaks, even though the oil and coal industries get such breaks.  If given to the solar industry, the feeling seems to be that more consumers would open their wallets, and the planet will be helped.

In that order.  As a capitalist myself, it’s refreshing to know that all this “green” stuff is happening in the Valley for the same reasons as the chip, internet, and networking revolutions: to make money, and create jobs.  It’s wonderful that the Valley is leading the way to help the environment, but the only way it becomes more than a passing fad is if there’s money to be made .. and jobs to be created.

So far, that’s the path we’re on.  Hopefully, we’ll stay there, no matter where the price of oil goes.