At ECO-St (www.eco-st.com) we are running a promotion where we give people 50p for their working incandescent lightbulb if they buy a low energy bulb. It appears that unless we offer this kind of loss leader promotion people will still buy incandescent bulbs from supermarkets that are prepared to sell them.

Even those who understand that high energy bulbs burn 5 times the energy are reluctant to throw away working bulbs. I can understand this as we discourage buying new things when the old ones work (except in the case of inefficient appliances) but I cannot understand why retailers continue to sell G-Rated appliances without a clear warning that it is harmful to the environment.

If people don't want to be told what to do by the government then they should make better buying decisions for themselves. With so much media coverage of the subject how can so many people be so badly informed or prepare to ignore both the economic and environmental consequences of buying incandescent bulbs?

And how can surpermarkets and DIY stores that claim to be 'eco' continue to stock inefficient bulbs? I understand about giving consumers choice but surely you only need to do this for customers making informed choices.