Middle Georgians for Responsible Lighting

Sustainability at Mercer (III)

2010-03-02T13:13:00.001-05:00

This project was originally intended to be a solo effort, but I ended up joining a group in my Honor’s class that wanted to construct a website to talk about the greening efforts on campus. Two other members of this group, my sister Emma Stitt and her friend Christina Hennecken (juniors) already had experience with setting up surveys and so they decided to take on the light survey and make it a part of our website. The light survey they created was conducted via an internet program and consisted of 5 basic questions based of the two pictures of the two different light bulbs:

Which, if either of these lamps, do you prefer?
Would either one of these types of lights make you feel safer on campus?
Would you prefer one type of light over another if you knew it was more environmentally friendly?
What is your gender?
Do you live on campus?

The first question also included a box for survey participants to explain why they chose the lamp they did.

While the survey had a large immediate response (about 170 participants from Mercer within a few days), the internet program only allows for the first 100 responses to be accessed for free. The results from those first 100 responses were very interesting though, and the gender proportions seem about right for a fair sampling of campus (69 of the respondents were female, 28 male, and 3 declined to respond: Mercer’s campus is about 2/3rds female). Another downside of this survey though was that most of the data had to be collected manually as the program only cross compares the data for paying customers.

All troubles aside, this is what they found out of the 100 replies (Lamp A is the normal, orange bulb, Lamp B is the LED, blue bulb):
35 preferred lamp A, 61 preferred lamp B, and 4 preferred neither.
26 felt lamp A was safer, 47 felt B was safer, and 26 felt neither was safer.
70% of those who felt neither was safer, still preferred lamp B
28% of those who preferred A still felt B made campus safer.

63 participants said they were prefer whichever light was more environmentally friendly. 25 said it would not change their preference. 7 said they would not prefer the more environmentally friendly if it was A, and 5 said they would not prefer it if it were B.

78 of the respondents actually live on campus, but even students who don’t live on campus are frequently on campus for night activities.

The basic conclusion of the results falls in favor of lamp B- the LED light bulb. I will reflect in the next blog entry on what more detailed conclusions our group drew from these results.

My Letter to the Editor (published 18 February)

2010-02-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

I’m afraid the Telegraph editors missed the import of Ron Lemon’s insightful commentary on Times Square South (8 February). I do not know anyone who finds the array of billboards on I-75 to the north and south of Macon attractive; the lights that illuminate these billboards are often excessively bright and poorly positioned (occasionally directing light into the eyes of oncoming drivers). Unless city leaders agree to formulate some legislation that delimit the size, wattage and location of the increasingly-popular LED displays (such as those found at OrthoGeorgia, WPGA, Opera House), a more intrusive version of billboard blight will develop along all major arteries within the city of Macon. As more businesses adopt this new technology to inform, to advertize, and to “outshine” competitors for the attention of drivers-by, our region will be enveloped with a halo of unnecessary and offensive light.

Irresponsible lighting has harmful effects on all living creatures, and it has proved to be penny-wise and pound-foolish in many cities around the world. I invite our city leaders and anyone sharing this concern to become better educated about outdoor lighting at http://mg4rl.blogspot.com (Middle Georgians for Responsible Lighting). Look at the satellite images of Georgia to see how extensively light pollution has sprawled over the past twenty years. Read the articles on how other cities and citizens have been able to save money and improve the quality of life through responsible lighting. And let’s take constructive and preventive action to require sensible lighting practices before it is too late.

2010-02-21T21:33:00.001-05:00

I found this revealing documentary film on YouTube. It's only ten minutes long.

Sustainability at Mercer University (II)

2010-02-02T12:53:00.004-05:00

(I am grateful to Sarah Stitt, a freshman student at Mercer University who has granted permission to post this contribution)

The light problem I would like to address actually covers two forms of pollution: light pollution and energy pollution. Last semester Mercer University hosted a Caring for Creation Conference. I was in two classes environmentally themed because of the conference. As part of my environmental themed Honor’s class, I needed to create a project that would help improve environmentalism or awareness on campus.
To get some ideas, I attended a student run forum. At this forum, a faculty member mentioned that while the majority of the street lamps on campus were not environmentally friendly, one of the men from Physical Plant (general maintenance) had purchase one LED bulb and installed it a street lamp outside the campus book store. He hoped to get feedback from students and faculty on whether or not they preferred this type of light to the other lights on campus. However, he hadn’t widely publicized what was different about this light, so while many of us students had noticed the “funny blue light,” we didn’t know what was special about it, or who to tell that we preferred it. Thus, my project concept was born.

I decided that I would photograph the two types of light on campus and compare not only their physical pros and cons (whether the light was better, brighter) but also which light polluted less. I would then create a survey to record students light preference. Once I had both my information and survey results, I would present these and hope that the university would switch over to the better light (assuming it was the LED one). These are a couple of the photographs I took that night (taken on the exact same setting):

These are a couple of regular campus lights.

This is the LED light.

Granted, there is some additional light coming from the bookstore and cafeteria behind the LED light, but still, the difference in brightness between the two is striking. Also, the difference in light pollution is striking. The regular campus lights create that horrible orange glow that floats over so many cities. The LED light, however, is clear and focused with a much smaller haze. While the initial appeal of this project was that I knew LED lights were more environmentally friendly and energy conserving, these pictures made it evident to me that switching bulb type could also make campus at night safer while reducing the light pollution on campus.

Sustainability Project at Mercer University (I)

2010-02-01T12:51:00.000-05:00

(I am most grateful to Sara Stitt, a freshman student at Mercer University who has granted me permission to use this text on this blog)

As this blog began with a personal statement, I feel it is only fitting that I introduce myself with one as well. I am a Liberal Arts student at Mercer University. I now live in Georgia, but grew up in a suburb of Detroit, MI. Suburbs of Detroit are not like the suburbs of Atlanta. I grew up in almost storybook fashion with the woods in my backyard and frequent camping trips to even more rural areas. Although I spent a great deal of my childhood sitting by campfires stargazing, I know little more in the ways of astronomy aside from my favorite constellation the Southern Cross (available only in the southern hemisphere) and the Big and Little Dippers. However, I have been rather subconsciously aware of light pollution and the affect it has on the night sky for years. I have over the years noticed how orange the horizon looks over the city while driving home some nights. I have been on a number of night flights and can remember looking down and seeing the light oozing from urban areas and marking human territory across countries. I also remember as a high schooler realizing that since my family had made the move from Michigan to Georgia, I had seen a lot less of the night sky. This is a poem I wrote some time around sophomore year of high school:

Humans are said to be sentient,
Because we looked up
When’s the last time you stopped
And stared in wonder and awe at the heavens above you?
Or tried to imagine the amazing
Space and unlimitedness of the sky?
When did we stop looking up?
When did the stars cease to matter?
Why does the Earth no longer command our attention?

It blossoms and grows and does
All that it can to beg us to listen and see
How can we ignore its supplication?
How can we refuse to admire that which sustains us?
Why are the mountains no longer majestic?
The seas terrifyingly appealing?
Or even the rose among weeds a sight to bring tears?

Go outside, stand in your driveway
In the middle of the night
And crane your neck, tilt backwards, lay down
Just look at the sky
And see.

What strikes me now reading back over this poem is that for many of you and even myself when here at school, to obey my poem’s plea would be nearly impossible. Not due to our inability to walk outside and look up, but because light pollution masks much of the night sky. In the next two entries I intend to write for this blog, I will be discussing a light problem that caught my eye here on Mercer’s campus.

Resolution of the American Medical Association

2009-10-25T21:08:00.000-04:00

I was very pleased to learn that, at its June 2009 meeting, the American Medical Association adopted a resolution intended to increase public awareness of the health issues attending irresponsible lighting. I'll provide an abridged version of this resolution 516 (A-09) here:

Whereas it has been calculated that over 10 billion dollars in wasted energy could be saved with the use of full cutoff street-
lights; and

Whereas, Emitted glare light is wasted light and accounts for about 40% of the light emitted by standard streetlights (cobras),it is therefore a significant source of wasted electricity, and this contributes to excess carbon dioxide production and possibly global warming; and ...

Whereas, Light pollution control legislation is being proposed in Congress, and

Whereas, Streetlight glare causes decreased nighttime visibility by pupil constriction, and thus leads to diminished nighttime
visibility and creates a safety hazard; and

Whereas, Many older citizens are significantly affected by glare as the eye ages, leading to unsafe driving conditions; and ...

Whereas, Light trespass has been implicated in disruption of the human and animal circadian rhythm, and strongly suspected as an etiology of suppressed melatonin production, depressed immune systems, and increase in cancer rates such as breast cancer; and

Whereas, Light trespass disrupts nocturnal animal activity and results in diminished various animal populations’ survival and health; and ...

Be it resolved, That our American Medical Association advocate that all future outdoor lighting be of energy efficient designs to reduce waste of energy and production of greenhouse gasses that result from this wasted energy use (New HOD Policy); and be it further

Resolved, That our AMA support light pollution reduction efforts and glare reduction efforts at both the national and state levels (New HOD Policy); and be it further

Resolved, That our AMA support efforts to ensure all future streetlights be of a fully shielded design or similar non-glare design to improve the safety of our roadways for all, but especially vision impaired and older drivers. (New HOD Policy)

The complete text of this resolution can be found at http://www.eficienciaenergetica.gub.uy/con_luminica/American%20Medical%20Association%20-%20Resolution%20516.pdf

2009-10-03T14:42:00.000-04:00

Shedding Some Light on Light Pollution

The above image was taken a few years ago by a satellite orbiting our planet. It clearly shows how heavy the light pollution is east of the Mississippi River. What I find equally fascinating and horrific is that one can easily make out I-75, I-85, and I-95 where they wind through metropolitan areas.

Magnifying this very same image yields a revealing view of the Southeastern United States. You can easily make out Miami, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Nashville.

Areas of a bluish color are generally not plagued by light pollution, greenish areas begin to show some adverse effects. Yellow indicates a high degree, red an excessive amount, and white an alarming degree of light pollution.

I imported this magnified image of the Southeastern United States into Adobe PhotoShop, cropped it, and provided the names of cities so that the interested viewer could have some points of orientation. Fortunately, Macon and Warner Robins do not suffer from the same degree of light pollution as Atlanta. The bad news, though, is that these two cities are catching up rapidly, as I’ll try to illustrate in my next post.

2009-09-13T20:38:00.002-04:00

This poster illustrates how extensive light pollution has become over the past half
Century. The image to the upper left portrays the extent to which artificial lighting illuminated the United States in the late 50s. It’s clear that the industrial-ized Northeast and Midwest contributed the most to light pollution, while danger signs were already evident near Los Angeles and San Diego.

The image to the upper right shows the southern expansion of light pollution in the mid 70s. Atlanta had already begun making its mark on the night sky.

The image to the lower left shows that by the late 90s light pollution had begun to assume epidemic proportions, leaving only the area west of the Mississippi and east of California safe from adverse consequences of irresponsible lighting.

The final image is a projection of the cancerous growth light pollution will assume unless measures to enforce responsible lighting are enacted quickly.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not opposed to artificial lighting! I enjoy watching tv and surfing the web at night, and I have modest light fixtures around the walkway leading up to my front door. I have no desire to reclaim a culture in which I would have to read books by candlelight.

I am, however, opposed to irresponsible artificial lighting—lighting that is beamed horizontally from my neighbors’ houses directly into my carport, living room or kitchen, lighting that is beamed vertically into space that accomplishes nothing other than cheating us of awe-inspiring, humbling, and sobering views of the night sky.

The images portrayed above would not be so horribly colorful if our culture had made a conscious effort to direct artificial lighting downwards, illuminating only that which needs to be lit up, at an appropriate wattage.

If you want good examples of irresponsible lighting in the Middle Georgia area, just drive down I-75 between Macon and Perry. Notice the garishly illuminated billboards with light cascading out from the sides and from the top of the sign. On occasion, your eyes may even suffer from the obscene glare from a misplaced or misaligned light.

Or drive up I-75 towards the truck stop near the Jackson exit. It you take the next exit south, you’ll surely notice that several of these mega-watt lights tend to be directed right at you, causing momentary eye strain.

Or drive down Riverside Drive towards the new shopping center. On the way you’ll pass a automobile dealership that is covered by a bright halo that any saint would covet.

Those are easy examples. There are plenty more less conspicuous, but offensive examples throughout our region. I welcome any photos that will document egregious light pollution in the Middle Georgia area.

2009-09-10T20:43:00.000-04:00

My Crusade

I guess I'll start this blog with a personal statement. I grew up in a large metropolitan area in the Northeast, where a clear view of the night sky was out of the question. I remember getting a small telescope when I was a teenager, but due to poor optics and excessive light pollution I really never got any satisfactory views. As a result I quickly lost interest in exploring the night sky.

Shortly after moving to Middle Georgia, however, I saw a complete constellation for the very first time (Orion), and I got to marvel at Saturn and Jupiter through the telescopes at the Museum of Arts and Sciences. During a vacation on Jekyll Island I was awestruck by my first view of the Milky Way. Who knew that this was actually something one could still see with one's own eyes!

These epiphanies aroused in me an interest in amateur astronomy. The more I learned about astronomy, the more fascinated I became with the vital role light plays in almost every aspect of our lives. And the more the neighborhood surrounding my house developed, the more acutely aware I became of the harmful effects of light pollution, especially when viewed from biological, ecological, economic, moral and spiritual perspectives.

Like most contemporaries I was oblivious to the ill-effects of wasteful lighting on my own property. Light pollution exists not because people do not care, but because they are simply not aware of its existence or its consequences. But any initiative for change has to start at home. I've become more sensitive to the issues of light pollution and light trespassing, and I do what I can to ensure that the lights around my house do not contribute to these two maladies.

I'll finish this first post with a historical story and a contemporary illustration. Back in 1943, the astronomer Walter Baade made an exceptionally important discovery: Edwin Hubble had miscalculated the distance of other galaxies from our own and had thus proposed a completely lopsided image of the universe. Baade was able to correct Hubble's estimates because he could finally resolve the individual stars in the Andromeda Galaxy and its companions. And the only reason Baade was able to see things so clearly was because the city of Los Angeles cut its lights off after sundown in order to preclude an air assault by the Japanese air force. In other words, light pollution was eliminated completely during this period. Otherwise, we might have had to wait decades, if not centuries, for this crucial insight into the cosmos. (Source: Ken Croswell, The Universe at Midnight, 50).

Now, the illustration: This is what Canadian photographer Tom Carlson could see from his neighborhood one evening during a power outage. Notice the wisps of nebulosity revealing the Milky Way:

Once power was restored, he immediately took a picture from the same location. Notice the garish light trespassing in the lower right:

True: a picture is worth a thousand words.