Fighting Light Pollution

It’s officially coming to an end soon.

The days are getting longer.

It’s almost the end of winter (in the northern hemisphere anyway!). Where am I going with this?

👉Light pollution.
We have all heard of it. The actual definition is the excess of artificial light.

👉Why is this important?
Energy = CO2
-In the US, 15 million tons of CO2 is emitted every year from outdoor lighting – apparently, 30% of this is unnecessary. Think: roads, parking lots, offices, commercial outlets
-In France, almost 50% of local-authority electricity-spend goes to public lighting

Night-light disruption:

-Disorientates animals – specifically migration birds, nocturnal animals, insects and marine life, including sea turtles and zooplankton
-Causes bird collisions into buildings, alters nesting & disrupts foraging
-Exposes some animals to predators more
-Impacts plant growth – affects a number of processes e.g. seed germination, root growth & flowering cycle
-Excess light also has an impact on general human well-being

👉Decline of insects
-The insect population is declining at a huge rate of up to 2% a year. This is due to a number of factors, and light pollution is one of them – light at night confuses
-Insects are small but they have important jobs: they pollinate, they are food for both land (sky) and water animals…

🙌Solutions for fighting light pollution

-Efficient lighting – a lot of outdoor lighting is not
-Shield light and point the light source downwards not into the air
-Motion sensors
-Smart lighting: where lights automatically go off when not needed, and gradual dimming options that work simultaneously with sunlight intensity
-Photoluminescent markings on roads
-And individually we can all be more conscious about switching off our lights at home🙌

👉Did you know?
-There is an International Dark Sky Week. This year it starts on 2 April (just after Easter!)

I’ll leave you to think about the last time that you saw a starry sky and the Milky Way. For me it was in the Alps a month ago!✨

While you are here, have a look at my services to see how I can help you on your eco journey! 

sources: DarkSky, IDA, National Geographic, IntechOpen, LuminoKrom & Reuters