Bangalore, 13 July, 2007: Greenpeace today announced the completion of collecting 1,00,000 petitions for their “Ban the Bulb” campaign addressed to the Union Power Minister to implement a ban on inefficient light bulbs in the country by 2010. The campaign aims to collect a million signatures (ten lakh) from the public till the end of the current year.
To commemorate the occasion Greenpeace organised a special event at Christ College joining the hands with Green Army, the environmental cell of Christ College in Bangalore attended by a few eminent names like the young director Master Kishen and Dean of Science, Christ College Mr Chandrasekhar amongst others.
Representatives of Solar Generation from different campuses such as St. Joseph college,Mount Carmel College,St. John's Medical College,Mahavir Jain College,Dayanand Sagar Dental College and National College were present at the function.
Launching the “Ban the Bulb” Campaign on the 16th April 2007, Greenpeace handed over a copy of the model legislation to the Power Minister, mandating that light bulbs with an efficiency of less than 25 lumen/watt should be phased out by 2010. The incandescent bulb falls into that category and Greenpeace demands it to be phased out by that period. Another step for more efficient lighting should follow in 2012 and 2015 so as to raise the minimum efficiency level of lighting to 35 and 55 lumen/ watt respectively.
A decisive measure taken by the Union Minister to phase out the incandescent bulb and ushering in a process of continuous improvement in the efficiency ratings, would save roughly 12000 MW of electricity, while reducing our CO2 emissions by a minimum of 55 million tonnes annually.
Greenpeace will continue collecting petitions from the public, with the aim of collecting 10,00,000 signatures in the coming days. On-line signing of petitions can be done at the campaign web-page " www.banthebulb.in "
