Light Responsibly

This sounds incredibly simple, and it is. Unfortunately, this is typically the most overlooked step. In many situations, you'll find outdoor lights that have no safety or security purpose. Many times, lights are installed simply for aesthetic purposes. How many times have you seen homeowners put lights under their trees? Additionally, many architects place lights on the sides of their buildings that shine straight up into the night sky. Uplighting is a huge waste of money and natural resources as well as a major cause of light pollution. Additionally, many times you'll see lights on round the clock, even though there is nobody around. This is incredibly wasteful. Another irresponsible use of light is to use the brightest bulbs available. Using more light than a given task requires does not help the situation and will often reduce your visibility.

I recommend: A much better solution would be to make use of night sky friendly outdoor lights. These are lights which shine down onto the ground where people walk. They don't shine wastefully into the night sky. This allows for the use of much smaller wattages and save lots of money and natural resources. To top off your optimized outdoor lighting solution, make use of motion sensors. These allow the lights to be off most of the time and then turn on instantly when there is activity in the area. This can save more than 90% of the electricity consumed by many outdoor lights

Educate Others About Proper Outdoor Lighting

Your first goal should be to improve your own outdoor lighting. After you've got things under control on your end, you should try to educate your friends, neighbors and elected officials.

I recommend: Outdoor lights are everywhere. If each of us were aware of the impact our lights had on the world around us, there would undoubtedly be far less light pollution and far less resources consumed. Many people are simply unaware of the impact their outdoor lights have on their surroundings. If we each take a few minutes as the opportunity arises to educate those around us about proper outdoor lighting and light pollution, we can slowly but surely eliminate this wasteful practice. If you'd like to get intouch with the experts in your area, a good place to start would be The International Dark Sky Association (IDA). This is a group that was founded with the sole purpose of protecting our heritage of star filled skies. They are the light pollution experts and a great resource for people seeking to learn more about light pollution as well as how to apply better outdoor lighting practices.