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Keep the sky dark, your back yard bright Even a small community can suffer from “light pollution” if too many neighbors turn on too many outdoor lights at night. Over-lighting with bright fixtures outside of buildings, in parking lots, on roads and even in your back yard can drown out the night sky. It’s annoying to people who enjoy a dark sky and a show of stars, and some say the practice can disrupt the work of astronomers and affect mating and migration of local birds and animals. Bright lights also can cause glare and cast dark shadows, which decreases visibility. Do your part of stamp out light pollution: Don’t send light into the night sky. “Point” outdoor security and path lighting downward instead of upward. It’s a waste of light and energy to direct your fixtures toward the sky because nobody will use the light up there. Reducing light pollution is easy. Simply choose outdoor fixtures that shield their light bulbs and direct the light down, where you need it—and out of your neighbors’ windows. Using a shielded fixture allows you to choose a lower-wattage bulb because you won’t be wasting any light by sending it to the sky. The International Dark-Sky Association recommends specific fixtures and brands that do a good job of keeping the light on your property instead of over top of it. Visit the group’s Web site at www.darksky.org for a list of approved products.
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