January 21 Smarter Lights

This is what it looks like outside my door at 10:00 PM on a winter's night. Very unfortunately, most of our streetlights and houselights are designed to emit light in all directions. This has the effect of sending light generally into the sky, and into people's eyes as they drive, bike, or walk down the street, actually reducing our ability to see. The brightness is stronger in winter, as snow reflects and spreads it even further. Studies of the ecological consequences of light pollution have been growing in number and show that our night lights create complications for a wide variety of insects, birds, reptiles, and mammals. A major first improvement is to replace fixtures with ones that point only down, illuminating just the street or sidewalks we travel on instead of yards, buildings, bedroom windows, and the night sky. More on this topic later.