Traditional light bulbs are being phased out in the 27 countries of the European Union. Europe will replace the bulbs as part of its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by the year 2020. Stores will be able to sell off their remaining stocks. However, the manufacture and import of the standard 100 watt and the frosted light bulb, which is deemed the most wasteful, will be banned.

And over the next three years, all incandescent bulbs, which create more heat than light, will be phased out completely. A similar ban is set to begin in the United States in 2012.

Under the new European law, incandescent bulbs will be replaced by more efficient lighting systems like fluorescent, halogen or LED lamps, which can save up to 80 percent of the energy used by the old bulbs.