Not sure if this is the most radical, but light pollution has to go or lessen. In urban areas nobody can even see the stars anymore. In my country it is impossible to see the milky way, it was still visible about ten years ago in remote areas.
It also affects trees and plants, stresses out wildlife and just in general is bad. Also pointless energy consumption.
Also ban big ad screens that blink or exist in cities or roadsides.
This is definitely political, but I struggle to think of anything that isn’t.
I will also add the idea of “cities that never sleep” where all lights are still on even if people are literally sleeping. It’s an horrible concept and should be immediately abolished once we overthrow capital. No, I don’t need a lights spectacle every fucking night, once or twice every month is okay but let the city have some darkness ffs. Avoiding visual contamination is important for the well being of people.
Yeah 100% Most places I’ve lived have had always-on lights outside the windows to varying degrees and it fucks with my sleep big time. I have to find a balance though, because not having any natural light to wake up to fucks with me too.
Some minimal, warm tone street lighting may be for the best in dense areas, but it doesn’t need to be bright, it needs to never shine directly into dwellings or up into the sky, and there needs to be strict regulation on other sources of lighting (I don’t want to be kept awake by the illuminated signs for say, a restaurant that isn’t even open, a gas station that covered itself in LEDs, a blindingly bright LED billboard, etc.)
Similar to noise pollution, it’s actually a major public health and quality of life issue
Not far from where I live there’s a medium sized LED billboard that is stupidly bright. Like it’s so bright it even hurts my eyes as I pass through that corner at night while on my bycicle. I wish to go full IRA on whoever gave the ok to put such horrendous crime against humanity there. Let people rest their fucking eyes omg.
It does turn itself off by 22pm or something, but christ fuck this shit.
Ban the private businesses that are running blinding LED floodlights, signboards, etc. all night.
There’s an area in my city where any time of night, any time of year, there’s a huge glow on the horizon, and its not the city, nor the sunrise, it’s just an agglomeration of fucking CAR DEALERSHIPS that light their entire premises and car lots literally bright as day all night. When I’m over there at night I pray for power outages, because it’s the only time it even gets kinda dark. otherwise its like brighter than full moonlight all night every night. And that’s not even like, next to the dealerships, it’s that bright over a half mile away with no line of sight.
I’ve even lived in a building that was infested with spiders because of their ultra-bright parking lot lighting, which attracted hordes of bugs.
Yeah. Where I live the smaller towns used to have a rule where street lights would turn off at 11pm every night. A few still do. That alone would make a huge difference.
I used to live on an actual island as a kid and that real darkness and those stars I will never forget and will always miss. The sleep you get in real dark (and silence) is just different.
Living in a city now that wants to be very modern and touristy they are ruining everything with lights, even most historic buildings get these stupid huge ad screens attached on them. Everything from bus stops to parks is just bright as day 24/7.
I could also expand this to sound, or car noise. It is so taxing.
Just having all outdoor lights be warm and dim, and on motion sensors where appropriate (bus stops maybe?) and not lighting areas that don’t need it (most parts of parks) would make such a difference. I’m sympathetic to some needs for public lighting, but it should be done 10x more thoughtfully. And my city isn’t even that bad in most areas.
Yeah. I feel generations are being robbed of seeing the universe’s beauty. It’s obscene.
I moved a few miles farther away from the major commercial centers a couple years back, and now I at least get a few stars instead of a neverending twilight purple haze at night.
Same. We went to visit the seaside this weekend and someone had built a big luxury housing unit right next to the ocean with these really bright street lights on the yard. The lights blinded the cabins we were in from seeing the night sky and I am sure nobody who lives in that luxury building can see the stars at all. Like why would you decide to go live in a place like that and then just ruin the things that are great about it.
I also feel like the lighting thing has gotten fully out of hand in the last decades with cheap and way too bright led lighting, every little nook and corner is now littered with bright lights. We get northern lights where I live, saw the most pathetic shade of one here last winter after walking to a park where there is a tiny tiny corner of less light and it just made me feel incredibly sad. Like this wonder that should be a part of our experiences as humans gets taken from us and is treated like it’s nothing. We are alienated from darkness and silence both, we would need both I feel.
Not sure if this is the most radical, but light pollution has to go or lessen. In urban areas nobody can even see the stars anymore. In my country it is impossible to see the milky way, it was still visible about ten years ago in remote areas.
It also affects trees and plants, stresses out wildlife and just in general is bad. Also pointless energy consumption.
Also ban big ad screens that blink or exist in cities or roadsides.
This is definitely political, but I struggle to think of anything that isn’t.
I will also add the idea of “cities that never sleep” where all lights are still on even if people are literally sleeping. It’s an horrible concept and should be immediately abolished once we overthrow capital. No, I don’t need a lights spectacle every fucking night, once or twice every month is okay but let the city have some darkness ffs. Avoiding visual contamination is important for the well being of people.
Yeah 100% Most places I’ve lived have had always-on lights outside the windows to varying degrees and it fucks with my sleep big time. I have to find a balance though, because not having any natural light to wake up to fucks with me too.
Some minimal, warm tone street lighting may be for the best in dense areas, but it doesn’t need to be bright, it needs to never shine directly into dwellings or up into the sky, and there needs to be strict regulation on other sources of lighting (I don’t want to be kept awake by the illuminated signs for say, a restaurant that isn’t even open, a gas station that covered itself in LEDs, a blindingly bright LED billboard, etc.)
Similar to noise pollution, it’s actually a major public health and quality of life issue
Not far from where I live there’s a medium sized LED billboard that is stupidly bright. Like it’s so bright it even hurts my eyes as I pass through that corner at night while on my bycicle. I wish to go full IRA on whoever gave the ok to put such horrendous crime against humanity there. Let people rest their fucking eyes omg.
It does turn itself off by 22pm or something, but christ fuck this shit.
I have literally never seen one that does this in the USA
I went to the most remote dark sky certified place in my area to watch the recent meteor shower and the Milky Way was only just barely visible.
This. Seriously.
Turn the fucking street lights OFF (or way down)
Ban the private businesses that are running blinding LED floodlights, signboards, etc. all night.
There’s an area in my city where any time of night, any time of year, there’s a huge glow on the horizon, and its not the city, nor the sunrise, it’s just an agglomeration of fucking CAR DEALERSHIPS that light their entire premises and car lots literally bright as day all night. When I’m over there at night I pray for power outages, because it’s the only time it even gets kinda dark. otherwise its like brighter than full moonlight all night every night. And that’s not even like, next to the dealerships, it’s that bright over a half mile away with no line of sight.
I’ve even lived in a building that was infested with spiders because of their ultra-bright parking lot lighting, which attracted hordes of bugs.
Yeah. Where I live the smaller towns used to have a rule where street lights would turn off at 11pm every night. A few still do. That alone would make a huge difference.
I used to live on an actual island as a kid and that real darkness and those stars I will never forget and will always miss. The sleep you get in real dark (and silence) is just different.
Living in a city now that wants to be very modern and touristy they are ruining everything with lights, even most historic buildings get these stupid huge ad screens attached on them. Everything from bus stops to parks is just bright as day 24/7.
I could also expand this to sound, or car noise. It is so taxing.
Just having all outdoor lights be warm and dim, and on motion sensors where appropriate (bus stops maybe?) and not lighting areas that don’t need it (most parts of parks) would make such a difference. I’m sympathetic to some needs for public lighting, but it should be done 10x more thoughtfully. And my city isn’t even that bad in most areas.
Yeah. I feel generations are being robbed of seeing the universe’s beauty. It’s obscene.
I moved a few miles farther away from the major commercial centers a couple years back, and now I at least get a few stars instead of a neverending twilight purple haze at night.
I miss the stars.
Same. We went to visit the seaside this weekend and someone had built a big luxury housing unit right next to the ocean with these really bright street lights on the yard. The lights blinded the cabins we were in from seeing the night sky and I am sure nobody who lives in that luxury building can see the stars at all. Like why would you decide to go live in a place like that and then just ruin the things that are great about it.
I also feel like the lighting thing has gotten fully out of hand in the last decades with cheap and way too bright led lighting, every little nook and corner is now littered with bright lights. We get northern lights where I live, saw the most pathetic shade of one here last winter after walking to a park where there is a tiny tiny corner of less light and it just made me feel incredibly sad. Like this wonder that should be a part of our experiences as humans gets taken from us and is treated like it’s nothing. We are alienated from darkness and silence both, we would need both I feel.