Dulverton dullards switch off lights
Discussion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16470744
Well i'm sure that they will be labelled as dullards as they switch off their lights to show up the effect of light pollution.
So what are your thoughts on light pollution?
i think its a bloody awful thing as in town at night when you look up all you can see if a yellow sludge. Thankfully i live in the countryside where i can actually see the sky at night
Well i'm sure that they will be labelled as dullards as they switch off their lights to show up the effect of light pollution.
So what are your thoughts on light pollution?
i think its a bloody awful thing as in town at night when you look up all you can see if a yellow sludge. Thankfully i live in the countryside where i can actually see the sky at night
I live in a town and I have a spectacular view of the stars at night. I don't think you have to live in the country to achieve that, just don't live right in the town centre. The issue is one of safety, did you hear the story of the soldier killed in an accident in the town where the lights were turned off to save money? We forget that when we go home to our nice warm beds working life goes on for many and lighting is a matter of safety for them.
I don't think anyone is advocating that street lights should be turned off every night. What is needed are sensible street lights which are low energy and direct the light downwards, rather than up into the sky.
Also, private security lights are not much of a deterent to most thieves and tend to be set off more regularly by animals as much as people. They are often far too bright for the area the owner wishes to cover,
Finally, vamity lighting (such as lighting up churches, statues etc) are to me, a total waste and a nusisance.
Also, private security lights are not much of a deterent to most thieves and tend to be set off more regularly by animals as much as people. They are often far too bright for the area the owner wishes to cover,
Finally, vamity lighting (such as lighting up churches, statues etc) are to me, a total waste and a nusisance.
anonymous said:
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Life also goes on in the country at that night, but people carry torches, as they could in town. Never understood why it is necessary to spend thousands of pounds every year lighting one street on the off-chance someone will pass down it, when that person could easily buy a torch for £2 to light his own way.Being a Londoner, I'd quite forgotten how dark nighttime can get in this country until recently when we rented a cottage in Devon, deep in a valley, right in the middle of nowhere.
I popped out one evening to the car to get something or other and I literally couldn't see a thing and was unnerved by the experience. I had to stumble back in to get a torch.
It was quite a sobering experience. It goes to show how cossetted we 'townies' are.
I popped out one evening to the car to get something or other and I literally couldn't see a thing and was unnerved by the experience. I had to stumble back in to get a torch.
It was quite a sobering experience. It goes to show how cossetted we 'townies' are.
Blib said:
Being a Londoner, I'd quite forgotten how dark nighttime can get in this country until recently when we rented a cottage in Devon, deep in a valley, right in the middle of nowhere.
I popped out one evening to the car to get something or other and I literally couldn't see a thing and was unnerved by the experience. I had to stumble back in to get a torch.
It was quite a sobering experience. It goes to show how cossetted we 'townies' are.
I'd say cursed not cossettedI popped out one evening to the car to get something or other and I literally couldn't see a thing and was unnerved by the experience. I had to stumble back in to get a torch.
It was quite a sobering experience. It goes to show how cossetted we 'townies' are.
nellyleelephant said:
dirkgently said:
anonymous said:
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I am willing to bet you have never been somewhere truly dark.Spectacular views of the stars and towns do not go together!
We live on ahillside, in a village near several largeish towns. We get better night skys than in town, but the very best we get are early winter mornings when the lower lying areas (and hence the lights) are shrouded in fog or mist.
dirkgently said:
I am willing to bet you have never been somewhere truly dark.
Down a cave with my eyes shut, does that count?!!! But putting aside fisicsiousness I have stayed/lived in darker places, the Cheviots and the Yorkshire Dales for example, but I don't think you need true darkness to get a good view. A few years ago a neighbour and I sat out and watched the Perseids for hours. Our street has full time road lighting but our back gardens back onto another street's back gardens so we have a bit of a relative blackout there.I would suggest the average person doesn't give a toss about seeing the stars nor do they rate the option highly on their list of life enhancing things. In true PH style I would suggest to those who do want to see them but can't for light pollution -JUST go out and buy a house where you have less light pollution and let the rest of the people live with the benefits that street lighting offers. Wink wink smiley!
anonymous said:
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Well, maybe it's about time the "average person" (whoever that may be) started to give a toss about such matters. If they realised what they were actually missing out on they might be a bit more aware of the problem. You can't complain of a problem if you aren't aware of it. Good on Cox and the BBC for making such a demonstration. The fact that this programme was so popular last year and this year indicates that maybe more "average people" give a toss than you might have thought.Light pollution is just as much a nusiance as noise pollution, in my opnion, and it is right and proper that the issue is tackled.
You aren't going to see many stars potholing so I don't think drawing the amalogy of being down a hole and looking at the night sky makes much semse.
Eric Mc said:
Well, maybe it's about time the "average person" (whoever that may be) started to give a toss about such matters. If they realised what they were actually missing out on they might be a bit more aware of the problem. You can't complain of a problem if you aren't aware of it. Good on Cox and the BBC for making such a demonstration. The fact that this programme was so popular last year and this year indicates that maybe more "average people" give a toss than you might have thought.
Light pollution is just as much a nusiance as noise pollution, in my opnion, and it is right and proper that the issue is tackled.
You aren't going to see many stars potholing so I don't think drawing the amalogy of being down a hole and looking at the night sky makes much semse.
I appreciate classic Alfa Romeos and take an interest in going to shows and reading magazines. It makes me happy and I feel it enhances my life but I don't expect my friends and family to think the same, why should they? So likewise don't expect others to start thinking like you because light pollution is a nuisance to you. Quite how light pollution is a nuisance to anyone other than stargazers is a mystery anyway. Dog sLight pollution is just as much a nusiance as noise pollution, in my opnion, and it is right and proper that the issue is tackled.
You aren't going to see many stars potholing so I don't think drawing the amalogy of being down a hole and looking at the night sky makes much semse.
t on the street, feral youth, vandalism, air pollution - these nuisances all have wide reaching impact on health and wellbeing, but light pollution? Really? Re the potholing analogy, that's why I mentioned I was being facetious. A wink wink smiley for you!
Maybe you live in a stty area but I haven't seen dog st on the street in about 20 years.
ETA: You're one of these clowns who likes to go against the flow for no other reason than a false sense of 'individuality', aren't you?
I can't see how anyone can argue against switching off excess lighting.
tty area but I haven't seen dog st on the street in about 20 years.ETA: You're one of these clowns who likes to go against the flow for no other reason than a false sense of 'individuality', aren't you?
I can't see how anyone can argue against switching off excess lighting.
Is there any harm in encouraging people to expand their interests and knowledge?
I think we might have a better society if we welcomed people into our interests rather than writing them off as "the average person" and not worth the effort.
Of all the aciences, astronomy is one of the most inclusive for the non-scientifically trained and may even encourage people to think beyond the next episode of "Big Brother" or "Eastenders".
If dog poo is an issue, maybe we should be inconveniencing the owners of the dog pooers rather than everybody else.
And to be honest, it can't recall dog poo being that much of an issue where I live.
I think we might have a better society if we welcomed people into our interests rather than writing them off as "the average person" and not worth the effort.
Of all the aciences, astronomy is one of the most inclusive for the non-scientifically trained and may even encourage people to think beyond the next episode of "Big Brother" or "Eastenders".
If dog poo is an issue, maybe we should be inconveniencing the owners of the dog pooers rather than everybody else.
And to be honest, it can't recall dog poo being that much of an issue where I live.
Oakey said:
Maybe you live in a stty area but I haven't seen dog st on the street in about 20 years.
ETA: You're one of these clowns who likes to go against the flow for no other reason than a false sense of 'individuality', aren't you?
I can't see how anyone can argue against switching off excess lighting.
You're just being a dtty area but I haven't seen dog st on the street in about 20 years.ETA: You're one of these clowns who likes to go against the flow for no other reason than a false sense of 'individuality', aren't you?
I can't see how anyone can argue against switching off excess lighting.
head! This is a forum where opinions are offered, compared and contrasted, not a place where there is a 'flow' and only likeminded people are allowed to comment. I write what I write because that is how I personally feel, not some attempt to portray myself in any particular way......... Now for some balance I did once live in a town centre and yes I couldn't clearly see the stars, but guess what it didn't ruin my life and not once did I consider making anyone turn off any lighting just so I could see them. It does anger me that the NIMBY types think the world should revolve around them and that something that is of genuine benefit to someone else should be turned off to suit their own particular nuances.
Hey someone mentioned that floodlighting of prominent buildings annoys them, well I quite like the way architectural features are highlighted in this way, Torre Agbar, Eiffel Tower, the Shard thread on here all show there are many more who think the same. Each to their own pal but don't get s
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