Belfast Telegraph in Energy Saving Bulbs Giveaway

Following suit with mainland newspapers, such as the Sun who carried a similar campaign, which saw newspaper sales increase by 408 000 copies, taking the daily circulation to almost 4m. The Sun turned half of its front page green for the promotion, which offered the eco-friendly lightbulbs to readers who bought the paper at more than 4,000 independent newsagents and stores including Tesco, Asda, WH Smith, Sainsbury's, Somerfield and Morrisons.

The Belfast Telegraph campaign runs in a similar way with many newspaper outlets giving a free bulb with the purchase of a paper today (Wednesday 16 April). The campaign hopes to give away enough bulbs to reduce Northern Ireland CO2 emissions by 500t per annum.

Adding her weight to the campaign the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland backed the campaign adding how she hopes to help further reduce energy consumption in the province, which has the highest CO2 emissions in the UK.

"The less we use today, the more will be available for future generations. From April, I will increase my Department's spending on fuel poverty by a further £0.5m bringing the Department's commitment to tackling fuel poverty to £35.4m. Alongside this, I will future-proof all new social houses against fuel poverty by ensuring that those built from this month will be required to meet standards that will mean that they will be 25% more energy efficient. My department will continue to examine the potential for extending innovation partnership arrangements with Northern Ireland Electricity and others to speed up the replacement of Economy 7 heating systems, targeting those with particular health needs and piloting renewable energy technologies as a means of tackling rural fuel poverty."
Margaret Richie, Social Development Minister