Bright idea: The bellringers who threw away their lightbulbs and started a grassroots revolution

The first evidence that Ilam, Staffordshire, might be unlike other villages presents itself at the front door of the house that Frank and Mabel Frith have occupied for 50 years. Visible beneath the cast iron wall light (a vital asset on pitch black winter nights, here in the Manifold Valley) is an elegant, low-energy, compact fluorescent lightbulb. Once inside the Friths' neat little living room, it is clear that the bulb is not alone. Eight more reside, slightly incongruously, in two ornate, flowery ceiling lamps, with a further two in the Friths' wall lamps and yet more through into the kitchen. "I'd say we've got 20," says an enthusiastic Mr Frith, who is 80 next month. "They say they're saving us electricity so that's fine by me."

The Friths are in good company. Ellen Clewes, the secretarial worker who lives next door, has almost as many low-energy bulbs as her neighbours and farmer Robert White, who lives up the hill, has about 30. In fact, if it's inefficient, incandescent lightbulbs you're looking for, then don't bother making the descent into Ilam at all because the village, on the southern fringe of the Peak District, is officially the first in Britain to have rid itself entirely of the incandescent bulbs - which use five times more power and are likely to be banned throughout the European Union by 2010.

With a population of fewer than 200, Ilam is keeping its achievement in perspective. But by swapping its bulbs, the place - which found fleeting fame when the local Victorian Gothic manor house was used as Jane Eyre's school, in last year's BBC drama - has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by four tons a year and is three years ahead of the entire Australian nation, which will ban all incandescent bulbs by 2010, in the hope of reducing carbon emissions by four million tons.

Ilam's efforts are part of a proud tradition of energy efficiency: its original eco-pioneer was Robert William Hanbury, local lord of the manor, MP and President of the Board of Agriculture in Arthur Balfour's Conservative government at the turn of the last century. Hanbury was about to have a water-powered generator built on the banks of the Manifold when World War I broke out. The foundations he dug are still visible on the opposite side of the river from his tombstone, but the equipment he brought in had rotted away in crates on the riverbank by the end of the war and all momentum was lost.

It was with Hanbury's idea in mind that a small group of bell-ringers at the local church recently decided they had had enough of freezing Wednesday practice nights and approached the council for help in resurrecting Hanbury's prototype hydro-electric scheme to heat the church. The plan was to pump water up from the well outside, pass it through heat exchangers in the church and run it through pipes beneath the floor. "It was one of those ideas that starts over a pint in the pub," says Robert White, one of the group.

After speaking to the Peak District National Park andStaffordshire Moorlands council, the villagers were directed to the Marches Energy Agency (MEA), an environmental charity based in Shrewsbury, which provided focus for these green aspirations. MEA has had no shortage of approaches from groups keen to set up microgeneration schemes to reduce carbon emissions - but who, by burning inefficient lightbulbs in uninsulated homes, are wasting more electricity than they are generating, with a negative net effect on the environment.

MEA wanted to tackle the lightbulb problem first. It discovered that to pay for the new bulbs, the village could tap into a fund established to tackle problems in areas affected by quarrying. Thanks to grants, all villagers were entitled to free low-energy lightbulbs - which last more than eight times longer than incandescent bulbs but cost between £2 and £8. While the experts were in the properties fitting the bulbs, they were able to give villagers further recommendations on reducing carbon emissions. MEA's audit showed that its homes and community buildings accounted for half of the village's annual 865 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The lesson from Ilam is clear for British communities that want to reduce their CO2 emissions: focus first on the simple things like light bulbs and insulation, which can have a far more immediate and profound effect. The average British household has three low-energy lightbulbs and 22 candescent bulbs. The energy saved by changing all the bulbs would be enough to render two nuclear power stations redundant, according to MEA.

Unfortunately, the Government has not done enough to communicate this message, says MEA director Richard Davies. "The UK is failing to advise people how to do things in the right order and people are confused," he said. "It needs something like the Marshall Plan - a strategy which demonstrates leadership."

MEA has introduced a five-point plan for villages to follow. New light bulbs come first, followed by insulation and efficient heating systems. Then communities can look at microgeneration and green electricity tariffs.

The challenge for villages with no grant money like Ilam's will be to persuade people to part with cash for bulbs. But the Energy Saving Trust estimates that each standard bulb replaced with an energy saver can take up to £10 per year off an electricity bill, a total annual saving of around £240 if every bulb is changed.

Frank Frith is certainly ready for the next stage of Ilam's green revolution. "We've got to decide whether to go for oil or gas central heating," he said. "Oil is cheaper but then there's the environmental effect."

And Robert White still has strong ambitions for the microgeneration plant. "It would be located on National Trust land and it is subject to ongoing discussions with them," he said. "But they are as committed to reducing carbon emissions as we are and we hope we can come to some agreement here."

How to achieve a healthy glow

* Energy-saving lightbulbs last up to 12 times longer and use about a quarter of the electricity of standard lightbulbs. They are available in hundreds of shapes and sizes, and plug in to existing light fittings without any need for modification.

* Independent testing has shown that when it comes to manufacturers' promises, what you see is what you get - if the packaging claims the bulb will shine for 10,000 hours and save you £10 a year, you can be confident it's true.

* Take note - because the bulbs use less electricity, they also use fewer watts: a standard 40W bulb shines as brightly as a 7-10W energy-saving bulb, 60W is the equivalent of 15-18W, 100W equals 20-25W and 150W is 32W. Bear this in mind when making the change.

* Bulbs range in price from about £2 up to £15 for a powerful spotlight. Look in homeware stores and on the internet.

JAMES DEAN

energysavingtrust.org.uk; nef.org.uk/energyadvice/lighting.htm

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