I just opened a bottle of Riverina Estate Shiraz 2006. The wine is from New South Wales in Australia. This is a really smooth fruity wine although quite strong at 14.5%. It costs just over £6.00 and at this price it’s quite a good wine for the money. Three out of five stars.

I was reading this article that suggests around 40% of supermarket packaging cannot be recycled and ends up in landfill sights. This does not really come as any surprise to me. I recycle all of my bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and any food waste that can be composted. In addition any meat waste gets fed to four grateful cats. These measures have meant that the waste that actually goes in the bin for collection is greatly reduced. The problem is that the remaining waste consists mainly of plastic trays and shrink wrapping for which there are no recycling facilities in our area. This article suggests fining firms that use too much packaging which seems like a good idea to me. I would be happy to buy the same product in packaging that could either be recycled or composted but it’s up to the supermarkets to address the issue.

An unfortunate squirrel with a love for nuts got into a spot of bother when he crawled into a bird feeder. Getting into the squirrel proof bird feeder was not a problem for the then thin and sleek squirrel. Getting out after consuming all the nuts proved a little more difficult. Luckily for the greedy squirrel the RSPCA were on hand to release him and the squirrel ran off unharmed but feeling a little sheepish.

Its good news for British cod as fish stocks has shown a comeback for the first time. This could mean that the decline which was threatening to wipe out the fish could be reversing. Scientists have advised the Government that is now safe to catch small numbers of cod in the North Sea. The comeback is largely due to an increase in the numbers of young fish as well as an increase in survival rates.

Barclays have penalised thousands of students with charges this week by accidentally removing their overdraft facilities. Usually at this time of year any graduates would be moved to a standard Barclays account but a processing error meant that around 20,000 people had the facilities removed by mistake. This could lead to costs of around £35 a day or £175 a week. Barclays have said that all the charges will be refunded but I doubt that any consolation for those graduates that have rent to pay.

A New Zealand brewery is offering a reward to anyone who can help them find a stolen laptop. The laptop was stolen from their Croucher Brewing Company and contains financial information, contact details and designs. They are offering a lifetime supply of free beer to anyone who can name the thief. I bet they will have no shortage of leads on this case.

Tesco is to start transporting some of its goods by canal in order to take some of its lorries off the road and cut carbon emissions. They will use the Manchester Ship Canal to move crates of wine from the Port of Liverpool. The service will include three journeys a week and move an estimated 600,000 litres of wine. Currently the wine arrives in the UK at various ports and is driven to the bottling depot at Manchester. Tesco is now looking at transporting other goods by water.

Debt experts have said that around one million people use high interest credit cards to cover their mortgage or rent payments. Six per cent of householders have put their mortgage or rent payments on their credit card in the past year according to the housing charity Shelter. Credit card companies often charge interest of around 15 and 18 per cent which is up to three times more then most mortgage rates. The problem seems to be worst among 18 to 24 year olds. It certainly seems like a very risky way of managing your finances.

Port Allen City Council has become the second Cajun-country town to ban saggy pants. By saggy pants I mean the style of trousers that fall below the hips often exposing the wearer’s underwear. The o ordinance requires pants to be secured at the waist so that they do not fall below the hips. Violators could be fine $25 to $250 for a first offence and $250 to $500 for repeat offences. Council member Hugh Riviere said he didn't want to view other people's undergarments, saying it "is called underwear for a reason."

Sainsbury’s are to give away one million energy saving lightbulbs on Saturday. The giveaway is timed to coincide with the clocks going back and so encourage people to save energy this winter. To get a bulb you have to take an energy saving pledge to help save energy by measures such as recycle bags and switching from baths to showers.

I was reading this short article about Rudy Giuliani who is currently the Republican presidential candidate. During a recent press conference he was asked by a small boy how he would deal with an alien invasion and gave the rather confident answer. "Of all the things that can happen in this world, we'll be prepared for that, yes we will. We'll be prepared for anything that happens." I feel very relieved that if we are ever invaded by aliens, Giuliani will be there to save the planet.

Barratt has begun building work on a new generation of zero-carbon homes. The houses are designed to produce a very small carbon footprint. They will include solar panels that will heat the water, pumps that will extract heat from the air to warm the house and toilets that will use rainwater to flush. The houses are likely to be on the market in 2010.

Three otters have died after getting caught in illegal traps in the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. The wire mesh traps are designed to catch crayfish but they have a wide mouth that otters can easily enter. The otters are thought to have swam in after some fish that been caught in the traps and once they were inside they drowned.

Tesco has had to suspend its property sales after the Office of Fair Trading ruled it was acting as an estate agent and would need to abide by the relevant laws. The site was launched in July and offered customers the chance to sell their home for £199. They have offered a full refund to all their customers and are now considering launching a full online estate agency in the future.