Sainsburys

In Africa, safari-bound tourists are usually keen to bag ‘The Big five' - species which once people wanted to shoot with bullets, but are now ones we want to shoot with cameras. However, we're so keen to ‘bag’ these species, that tourists often overlook the other amazing wildlife all around them.

Update, December 2009: John West introduces new sustainability policy »

Last year we published our tinned tuna league table, ranking the main retailers and brands on the overall sustainability of their canned tuna. Tinned tuna, which is normally skipjack (the most common variety), is a food cupboard staple in the UK, and we are the second biggest consumers in the world, so we can have a massive impact on improving the sustainability of the fishing that fills the tins.

As well as assessing the information given on the tins (some didn’t even tell you what species was inside!) we also evaluated the impact of how the fish were being caught, and the company's overall sourcing policies.

A pollack called Colin... what's in a name?

Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never hurt you. Unless you're at the fish counter it seems, where the retailers Sainsbury's have 'renamed' pollack as 'colin'.

No, it's not April Fools' Day - apparently customers had a bit of an issue asking for pollack. I guess in much the same way as Uranus started being pronounced 'Yoo-ran-uss' at some point in the last couple of decades to avoid embarrassment and puerile jokes.

Something that happened a few weeks ago but has slipped through the net is that Sainsbury's has announced an improved policy on light bulbs. By committing to phasing out those wasteful incandescent bulbs by 2010, they join Asda and Morrisons (who also recently shifted their stance) further up our league table. That still only gives them a D, but it leaves three supermarkets lower down - Tesco and the Co-op at E and Somerfield a disappointing F.

Meanwhile, there's been no further word from wooden spoon winners Woolworths since their CEO's response to our day of action, but we're still working on them. You may have been invited to sign a 'Seize the Light' flag outside you local branch, as groups of Greenpeace volunteers (like the Blackburn group pictured) have been collecting signatures to show Woolworths that their customers want them to help everyone improve their energy efficiency by getting rid of out-dated, inefficient light bulbs.

If you haven't emailed Woolworth CEO Trevor Bish-Jones, now's the time - everyone who's done so has received a personal response, and you could be one of those lucky people. Or if you fancy a bit of flag-signing, contact your local Greenpeace volunteer group and find out how you can help everyone make the switch.