Mayor's light-bulb amnesty

You may have caught the announcement by London's Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone of a "lightbulb" amnesty; but may not have picked up on the specific details of the scheme. So here they are.

The amnesty takes place from this Friday, 11th January, and runs through to Sunday 13th January.

All you have to do is take one or two of your existing traditional lightbulbs to any of London's 28 B&Q stores - the nearest to Putney is the one in Smugglers Way just by Wandsworth Bridge (click here for a map) - and in return you'll receive free energy-efficient replacements courtesy of British Gas.

Each energy-efficient light bulb can save you up to £7 a year off energy charges and up to £60 over the lifetime of the bulb. Energy-efficient bulbs last 12 times longer than traditional bulbs and use around 80 per cent less energy. Many households now use large numbers of bulbs meaning savings of over £100 a year are possible for those that switch to entirely energy efficient bulbs.

For more about the scheme visit www.london.gov.uk/lightbulbs, phone 0800 512 012 or text 'bulb' followed by your full postcode to 62967.