Bright Lights, Little City – are we burning up the night sky?
Monday, April 6th, 2009
by Tao Oliveto, Wilmington, NC
It starts to creep in sometimes…that “get away” feeling. The Cancerian in me loves my “hearth and home” as well as the many diverse aspects my “small-town” life has to offer, but when you feel the pull, you usually should pay attention. So, here we are in Wilmington, NC, a two+ hour drive from home. Although we’ll find some beach time today with the dogs, we city folk mostly enjoy the allure of historic downtown areas, especially if they sit on some waterway, and there’s an almost waterfront Inn here that is friendly and quiet.
After the usual walkabouts and sunset meal, we fell into that blissful, “I’m on vacation” sleep. Until 2:30am, when my sweet but somewhat nervous Border Collie decided she needed to go out. So, with a sweater over my pjs, i strolled through the mostly quiet neighborhood, taking advantage of a spontaneous experience under the stars. But, wait, where were the stars? Where was the dark? Instead of a unique nighttime experience, I felt more like I was on a movie set, assaulted by the bright lights everywhere. My “Inn” was lit up every few feet, the street lights obliterated the moon, and the convenience store across the street looked like a carnival.
From the Sherzer Observatory web site: “As much as 25% of electricity consumption (by far the #1 source of air pollution ) in the United States goes towards lighting. We could save conservatively $2 BILLION a year and millions of tons of coal with more efficient use. Taking away a natural night, “confuses birds and other animals…who depend on the cover of darkness for their very survival. As we increasingly become a 24-hour society, even we humans are taxing our “body clock”, one that requires nighttime.” Go here for more info. and visit this link to see our a birds eye view of our lit-up life.
Maybe I’ve become spoiled by my light-free co-housing community in Carrboro, but this seemed somehow ominous, as if we have become a society so frightened of our dark side that we attempt to push it away at all costs.
Lights at night seem to scream, stay awake!, but I think it has had the opposite affect…
I need help! A garden plot in our community has been turned over to me. I’ve been thrilled and have researched what to plant, when to plant it and scheduled my harvest dates. But now I’m stuck in this lull before the digging. I need a some kind of superhero to step in and spur me on. I need to sit down at the end of a day in the dirt, with friendly co-conspirators. I need my own Crop Mob!
No matter what you want to say about the 