incandescents

If you've been wondering what's been happening on the light bulb front since our Woolworths campaign last year (and much as they were in our bad books, it's sorry to see them go), there's been some developments on the European stage where politicians have been voting on plans to improve their efficiency and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the EU.

The good news is that, on Tuesday, the EU has at long last agreed on a ban of inefficient incandescent light bulbs; the somewhat worse news is that we'll have to wait several years for it to come into full effect. In the meantime, inefficient bulbs will still be on sale and given the desperate need to reduce emissions, it's not enough and it's not soon enough.

Efficiency is the amount of energy an appliance or device uses to get a certain output. The more efficient a device is, the less electricity it uses - and the less climate-changing emissions are pumped into the atmosphere.

The technologies exist for making all sorts of energy efficient products – from light bulbs and TVs to cars and fridges. But, because it’s cheaper and easier for industry to keep churning out the same old products, most of us are still using old, inefficient technologies and unnecessarily damaging the climate.

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.