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Post by The Drunken Communist on Oct 10, 2019 18:53:26 GMT
Does anyone else think we (as a country) should have an hour each week, or even each month, where we turn all the street lights off?
I've just been thinking back to when I was a kid & my nan used to take me out at night, we'd go walking up the street & the lights were so spreadout & weak that you could look up & see hundreds, if not thousands & thousands of stars. Making that same walk today & looking up, even blocking out the nearest street light with my hands & there's barely half-a-dozen stars you can make out. It makes me wonder how many youngsters there are in our country today who've never seen what a proper night sky is like, and for me it's something everyone should get to see as it helps to show you just how small you are, and that you're not the centre of the universe afterall.
Would switching all the street lights off bring back those old skies, or would there still be too much light pollution from elsewhere? Say at 10pm till 11pm on the first Sunday from November through February we switched them off. It wouldn't cause any disruption to anyone, but would give some people a chance to see something they might never otherwise get to witness.
Thoughts?
(And yes, yes, I know we can all head off into the wilderness yada yada, but I'm thinking about the millions of young kids who'll spend their entire lives in cities.)
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Post by Boothen on Oct 10, 2019 19:12:39 GMT
Yes. But then being an astronomer I might be considered a tad biased.
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Post by stokief on Oct 10, 2019 19:26:02 GMT
The trouble is there would always be those who would relish in taking advantage of a 'set' turn off time wouldn't there sadly?! We are now a 24/7 world. There's always somebody winding their way back from work (male or female) who wouldn't enjoy coming home in darkness. There'd be those who would see it as a great time to do a bit of pilfering or much worse. Nice idea though.
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Post by Pretty Little Boother on Oct 10, 2019 21:55:37 GMT
Street lights are shit.
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Post by somersetstokie on Oct 10, 2019 22:57:23 GMT
Street lights in the modern world are both a blessing and a curse. The prevalence of light pollution affects us in so many ways, and also wildlife, to the extent that in some areas there is no real "dawn chorus" amongst the bird population, as there is effectively no dawn.
The problem of light pollution has extended so far that the absence of light pollution is a rare and valued condition. Some remoter areas of the country are actually identified as places that are generally dark at night and if you are so minded as to want to see a proper panoply of stars they are good places to go for that purpose. Such areas are now designated as "Dark Skies Parks" and Exmoor, near me, is one such place to go star gazing.
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Post by maninasuitcase on Oct 10, 2019 23:03:08 GMT
Thought this was a Randy Crawford thread for a sec, then realised she sang Street Life lol
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Post by somersetstokie on Oct 10, 2019 23:09:39 GMT
Thought this was a Randy Crawford thread for a sec, then realised she sang Street Life lol You might also be thinking of Journey's, "Don't Stop Believin'," because "streetlights, people" is repeated in its chorus.
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Post by elystokie on Oct 11, 2019 8:09:06 GMT
Stokief makes a good point re security.
I think a lot of places could probably get away with turning off every other light for a few hours during the quieter times tho, seems a bit of a waste of resources atm to me.
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Post by musik on Oct 11, 2019 8:18:25 GMT
Thought this was a Randy Crawford thread for a sec, then realised she sang Street Life lol It reminds me, I have to get my turntable fixed.
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Post by danceswithclams on Oct 11, 2019 10:43:00 GMT
I'm definitely for this.
It'd help no end in my career as a prolific rapist.
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Post by chigstoke on Oct 11, 2019 10:50:19 GMT
I'm definitely for this. It'd help no end in my career as a prolific rapist. Oof, that one is going to rustle some jimmies, I'd prepare just in case
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Oct 11, 2019 11:49:38 GMT
The type and direction of lighting doesn't help. It's amazing how much lighting that's supposed to point down actually bleeds upwards. That's why there's always that orange 'urban glow' over towns and cities.
This sort of thing always reminds me of this song (one of my favourite bands, though I'm not a big fan of this song):
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Post by middleoftheboothen on Oct 12, 2019 16:16:32 GMT
I'm definitely for this. It'd help no end in my career as a prolific rapist. absolute quality 😂
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Post by zerps on Oct 12, 2019 16:26:57 GMT
More importantly, why are they replacing traditional orange lights for white ones? The worlds gone mad.
Tbf, led lighting electricity consumption is very efficient nowadays.
They should declare war on hot tubs and plug in dildos instead.
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Post by dutchstokie on Oct 14, 2019 9:08:03 GMT
More importantly, why are they replacing traditional orange lights for white ones? The worlds gone mad. Tbf, led lighting electricity consumption is very efficient nowadays. They should declare war on hot tubs and plug in dildos instead. In response to TDC's opening post and this one, NL has been doing this for years……..not being funny but doesnt the UK actually do this - switching certain parts of the grid off ? When I do neighbourhood watch on my estate, certain streets go off in sequence, not for hours on end but for 15 minutes. These 15 minutes add up across the year. These are also done randomly and not in a set pattern. This is a nationwide policy NL is also going through a MAHOOSIVE transition plan at the moment of changing all street, motorway and industrial estate lighting to LED lighting. The 'brightness' so to speak of the motorways certainly improves visibility - well for this blind old fart anyway !
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Post by stayingupfor GermanStokie on Oct 14, 2019 9:24:06 GMT
More importantly, why are they replacing traditional orange lights for white ones? The worlds gone mad. Tbf, led lighting electricity consumption is very efficient nowadays. They should declare war on hot tubs and plug in dildos instead. In response to TDC's opening post and this one, NL has been doing this for years……..not being funny but doesnt the UK actually do this - switching certain parts of the grid off ? When I do neighbourhood watch on my estate, certain streets go off in sequence, not for hours on end but for 15 minutes. These 15 minutes add up across the year. These are also done randomly and not in a set pattern. This is a nationwide policy NL is also going through a MAHOOSIVE transition plan at the moment of changing all street, motorway and industrial estate lighting to LED lighting. The 'brightness' so to speak of the motorways certainly improves visibility - well for this blind old fart anyway ! It is very noticeable when I drive to visit family in Germany and cross the border from France/Belgium to Netherlands... it’s like a different world and I always give a “phew” as I too can see better 😂
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