In this week’s news – an important new law, a posh award and an octopus that juggles hermit crabs. Highbrow stuff.

Best of British

Was your chest slightly more puffed than usual on Tuesday 28th October? Were you walking with your head held high, whistling Jerusalem or My Old Man’s A Dustman to yourself? Well, if you were and couldn’t quite fathom why, 28th October was a fine day to be British as it was the day that the UK parliament voted for the Climate Change Bill to become law. This important bill commits the UK to achieving an 80% reduction in carbon emissions (from 1990 levels) by 2050, which is the most ambitious target in the western world to date.

Friends of the Earth were the major driving force behind getting this target included within the law, so backpats all round there. Some of the money raised at our first village fete back in 2007 went towards supporting the Friends of the Earth campaign, so if you came along to that fete, an extra big pat to you for helping get this important bit of legislation passed. If you'd like some tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint, have a look here or to see how we’re doing our bit, cast your eyes this way.

Pick of the packaging

Vice Admiral T. R. Cardboard-Box, Sir Ronald Bubblewrap, Lady Margaret Cello’Phane – oh yes, the great and good of the packaging world were out in force last week for the annual UK Packaging Awards. The glitzy ceremony was held at the Grosvenor Hotel in London and we picked up the rather heavy, slightly sharp edged but nevertheless coveted award for ‘Brand Client of the Year’. Beating off strong competition from Apple, Coca-Cola, and Proctor & Gamble, we won in recognition of our 100% PCR bottle, our quest for sustainability, our all round packaging design and for being the brand most people would like to work with. Which is always a nice reason to win. John Inverdale presented our Jacqueline and Simon with the award, confessing in hushed tones that he had ‘literally millions’ of our drinks at home. No favouritism there then.

To twit or not to twit

Twittering. Nothing to do with impersonating owls, but actually a relatively newish thing in digital instant messaging. Basically, you write what you’re up to at that precise moment in time, answering the question “What are you doing”, then post your message and instantly update all of your twittering mates. A bit like updating your Facebook status or blogging in haiku form or just texting your mates all at once. Anyway, we’ve been twittering for a little while now, and we read recently that Mr Obama’s twitter feed was the thing that won him the election (sort of). So it’s probably worth a go. If you fancy joining in, simply click here and tweet with us.

The Hat Factor

Fancy being Simon Cowell or Cheryl Cole for five minutes today? Well, look no further than our Hat of the Year final. No ear bleeding renditions of Hero or high-waisted trousers required. All you have to do is take look at our finalists here, decide on your favourite and cast your vote. And when you’re done deciding the fate of our woolly hat hopefuls, you can watch our Joe doing some knitting with Beryl and Jean, flexing his biceps and being a general all round good egg for the camera.

And finally...