How low can they go?

Thumbs Up: Tesco has joined the UK's Carbon Trust and is to begin measuring the carbon footprint of some of the products it stocks.

Thirty products across five categories - tomatoes, potatoes, orange juice, light bulbs and washing detergent - will be assessed. The project "will be invaluable to our efforts to help companies make informed decisions about what they produce and offer to consumers", said Joan Ruddock, the minister with responsibility for climate change. The Carbon Trust is a private company set up and funded by the British government to accelerate the country's transition to a low-carbon economy.

The same old faces

Thumbs Down: Forget Facebook - this is off-your-facebook. Swiss techies have developed a web service, www.localina.com , which will find a pub just like your local anywhere in the world; ideal for anyone arriving in a new city - as long as they don't want to experience anything new or interesting, we imagine.

If the shoe fits

Thumbs Up: Hats off to the Camper shoe shop on Dublin's Wicklow Street. Not only does it give you a 30-day "cooling off period" in which you can decide you don't like your purchase, it also offers a full two-year guarantee against manufacturer defects in their very trendy shoes.

© 2007 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times