How many retailers does it take to change the light bulb?
Well, all of them, but the Co-op has made a fine start. The supermarket has announced that it’s going to remove all inefficient light bulbs from its shelves within a few months. Gone are the energy-leaching incandescent bulbs and in comes a wider, brighter selection of efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which use five times less energy and last up to 12 times longer.
If every UK retailer did the same, we’d save over five million tonnes’ worth of carbon emissions – more than the CO2 emissions of the 26 lowest emitting countries combined! That’s on top of saving UK consumers around £1.2 billion in electricity bills per year. Not bad for a little gas filled tube...
Unfortunately our government isn't planning to follow the examples of Australia, Cuba, Venezuela and California, who have all made the move towards phasing out incandescents, until at least 2011 - so, at the moment, it's down to supermarkets to take responsibility for their purchasing practices. But Curry’s have already made the switch and, with the Co-op joining them, the pressure’s mounting on other supermarkets to voluntarily remove incandescents from their own shelves.
And there’s more good news (you might already know this but I only just found out); if you’re on jobseekers allowance, income support or housing benefit, you’re probably eligible for free CFLs. Check out the government’s Warm Front scheme, or visit your local energy advice centre for more...
