As a bottled water devotee, simply because of convenience,  here is a different option than drinking water from your tap.  However, bottled water also has its downside.  Here is a list of article that may have you reconsider some of the types you are selecting, or at least, checking with consumer groups to be certain there are no violations.   It appears that two new reports show that the store-bought water might be less regulated than tap water.   Is your bottled water safe? - CNN.com, some questions were raised.

As the controversy continues between drinking water and bottled water,  here are some facts and news items about drinking water. We begin with the Centers for Disease Control and their updated (April 2009) information regarding our drinking water.   Healthy Drinking Water | CDC is a new CDC link with valuable information.

On Wednesday we posted carbon footprint links.  In terms of climate change there are pros and cons to carbon offsets and whether or not there is even a need to do so.  However, in the spirit of keeping readers informed, here are links to carbon emission offsets.

Much has been written recently about the fact that sunspots are at their lowest count in over 100 years. How important are sunspots to the issue of climate change? Does an absence of sunspots signal a cooling period? Different experts have differing opinions.

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In the wake of the U2 carbon footprint controversy, every wonder how you might measure your own carbon footprint?  There are different ways to determine this.  See which suits you.   Watch for our article on carbon assets.

A few weeks ago, scientists announced that they discovered 350 new species in the Eastern Himalayas. There were lovely pictures of a flying frog and the world’s tiniest deer.
Now a team from the BBC Natural History Unit have discovered a new giant rat species in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea and there are “lovely” pictures of the new rat. Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This is an interesting perspective from Yale Environment 360:
“Indeed, China may soon be simultaneously the greenest and the blackest place on earth. The country is poised to be at once the world’s leader in alternative energy — and its leading emitter of C02. Alternative energy as a percentage of the total energy mix is increasing, but it will complement —
not replace — growth in coal power.
“In fact, in a decade coal is expected to supply about 70 percent of China’s energy. Because of the sheer scale, diversity, and complexity of …

Here is the scoop on the Smart Car from Forbes.com — the price does not appear to be helping its sales. It isn’t even the car as much as the battery.

Because I try to remain neutral but opinionated, I am sharing this article I read in the Providence Journal yesterday.  We know there are many opinions “for and against”  – but this one appears to lay out some facts that one might be able to compare against those with a differing opinion.