Reduce Light Pollution

Summary: Unnatural outdoor light at night wastes energy and has a negative impact on our ecosystem.

Description

Light pollution has a significant impact on wildlife.  Nighttime light can disrupt the migration of many birds.  Most songbirds migrate at night.  Excessive nighttime light can disorient them altering their path and even causing an increase in building collisions.  

There was a day when you could look at the night sky and see it lit up with stars with the bright streak of the Milky Way across the sky.  Now in Groton only the brightest stars are visible.  There was a day when kids could collect a jar of fireflies.  Now they are not that common.

Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations.  Nighttime lights can lure moths to their death around light bulbs, and disrupt the signals of fireflies. Many nighttime-blooming plants are pollinated by our nocturnal moths.

A few simple choices can greatly lessen the impact of outdoor lighting. https://www.grotongardenclub.org/post/light-pollution-garden

Deep Dive

Steps to Take

1. Turn off all outside lights that aren't essential.
2. Where outdoor lights are essential, add motion detectors or timers so they are on the minimum amount of time.
3. Choose outdoor fixtures that angle the light down and minimize light that is angled sideways or up.
4. Use yellow LED bulbs or low wattage white bulbs.
5. Check out these websites for more information:  https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/wildlife/ and  https://darksky.org/resources/guides-and-how-tos/lighting-principles/