“For billions of years all Life has relied on the Earth’s rhythm of Day & Night. Humans have radically changed this cycle by lighting up the night. The benefits are obvious, while the dangers go unmentioned.
Darkness interruption has a long list of dangerous negative impact. Declining insect populations, disrupted bird migration patterns, wildlife survival behavior, and even the life cycles of plants & trees are severely affected. Light pollution is also linked to Human diseases such as diabetes, depression, obesity and cancer.
Action you can take: turn off lights when not needed, use soft yellow lights when possible and point them downward, keep lights away from habitats and DO NOT install lights in trees! Get educated, raise awareness and share knowledge.
There is a lot more to this issue – and a lot that can be done by each of us to make good changes. (see CFC post here)”
Editorial note: For many of our readers this is déjà vu (all over again). For those who weren’t around or have forgotten, our posting of, “Everything Is Deluminated,” from a November 2009 Wall Street Journal article might “shed some light” on what we mean.
Nonetheless, as light has crept back in to some properties in our Village, we applaud CFC for their message.
De Ja Vu is right! Bobbie’s brigade was preaching that lighting up the perimeter of your home had no effect on security and occlusive window shades were needed to prevent ‘bleeding’ of light into the dark night (and many other purported ‘benefits’ of turning off lights. Made village residents angry and they organized (HALO) and voted down his dark proposal.
The lighting ordinance as presented years ago in its first draft was indeed over-the-top. However, the Golden Rule as it applies to outdoor lighting: Being mindful of your neighbors and nature by focusing light downward instead of upwards or outwards toward other properties and having gentle (slightly yellow light, like candles – 3000 Kelvin or less) and only having light where you need it; when you need it and no more than that is just a sign of respectful good citizenship. Let us all endorse it.
Citizens for Conservation are asking for nothing more than The Golden Rule applied to lighting. Do you want neighbors lighting blazing down on your property and dong harm to nature’s critters?