27 February 2007
Energy-saving light bulbs are becoming a staple of the weekly shop according to figures from supermarket giant Tesco, which show that one in five regular customers are now putting the environmentally friendly lighting option into their trollies each week.
Tesco cut the prices on the energy-saving bulbs last year after surveys found that many consumers were choosing the standard bulbs over the green alternatives because the environmentally friendly versions were so much more expensive.
Now, as well as costing only slightly more than the average light bulb, the energy-saving versions can also save consumers around £8.8 million of electricity and 26,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over a year, since the bulbs last up to 15 times longer than standard ones.
Tesco spokesman Ceri Coxon told the Manchester Evening News that if every customer installed just three energy-saving light bulbs, it would save enough electricity to power all the UK street lighting for a year.
"It's fantastic to see such a high consumer take-up of energy-saving light bulbs. We're committed to helping our customers reduce their energy consumption and hope that by making them more affordable, eco light bulbs will soon be the norm in British households," she added.
Making small changes to your gas and electricity use can help save the planet and save you money too. Read tips on how to be more energy efficientRead tips on energy efficiency and see if you can Save by switching your gas and electricity supplier by using uSwitch.com's free and impartial comparison and switching service.