Street Light Pollution - HELP

Street lights annoy me. The ugly orange glow (why orange?) invading my windows at night, my garden all lit up for thieves to find their way around, and most of all I can't see the stars. Sadly the council have put up new poles even closer to my fence this week and once the lights are up and working I'll be even more lit up. It's driving me nuts. I've just complained to my local council via an online "faulty light" report form. Don't know if I'll get anywhere though. Lights should light up the area they're meant for and any straying over into my patch is considered pollution but apparently I can't do much about it as, (the way the law sits today), it's not considered to be trespass because it's not an INTENTIONAL intrusion. Give me strength! Does anyone else suffer from this problem? Have they complained? There must be a huge petition somewhere? The milky way doesn't exist in my world and I'm so blooming angry.

Doesn't anyone have this problem???? Where do you lot live?

I have the opposite problem really, there are not enough streetlights on my street.

I don't think most people really think about it or care to much to be honest with you.

I mean having more lights around does generally prevent crime, since it's easier for
the perpetrator to be spotted.

I particularly don't mind lights, since they look really cool from orbit, and they make it
safer out at night.

I'm in the UK where most street lights are an acid orange. When any sort of crime happens you can't tell the colour of the villain's clothing, hair, nor the colour of the vehicle that knocked someone down. That's the truth. As for house or garage break-ins, police leaflets will tell you to get an outside light on your house but a police detective will tell you personally that having a light actually helps the criminals see their way around. My biggest complaint though is the amount of stars I can see at night, which is practically Zero. I did fill in an online petition a couple of years back . If I remember correctly I'm sure their motto went something like, "daddy, what are stars?"

Im in the UK too and our road has NO street lights, despite us demanding them for the last 20 years.

We are just told "its an unadopted road" you arent going to get them.
AHH the joys of country life

The orangeish type lights are High Pressure Sodium, usually 1000 Watts each, minimum. They are reknowned for casting less of a shadow on objects hence the value for inner city high crime areas where hiding in shadows is a common thing.

Many years ago, I lived in Miami and had a choice of buying thick black out curtains in order to sleep , or the alternative, which I chose: Every time they would replace the light, I would wait until dark, walk outside with my Colt Python .357 Magnum and shoot the light out. Bullets were cheap then, pennies each , and after 3 or 4 times, the repair crew just gave up and left it off. I won. However, I realize that this is not the ideal solution for most!

Nothing you can really do but get curtains or if you really want to put the lights to good use, that type of light is exactly what cannabis growers use for blooming their flowers! If one could just rig up a pulley system and hang plants under the lights at night and bring them in during the day, you could for once put the money spent on those lights to it's ' highest ' and best use !! Seriously though, they are a pain in the neck and too bright to allow for coexisting with them without blinds or curtains. Be careful what you wish for if you are in a dark area; when the lights some, the next time you see a star or the moon will be in a picture.

I agree Wigit. If you are unhappy at the siting of street lights, the first people to hassle are your local representitives, at parish, local, district and country level.

And I mean hassle them. Attend council meetings, write to them, email them.

What do you neighbours think? Are they unhappy. The more the hassle, the great the chance of getting some thing done.

Have a look at his web site Environment Agency - Light Pollution

And it was great when we had power cut and the street lights were out. You could see even more stars.

Eyewitness - I've thought many's a time about shooting those damned lights down but I don't have a gun and I don't want to got to jail either. I've even thought of climbing up and painting the lot with black bitumen or paying some local yobs to put a bin bag over them. The new lights are closer than the other ones, the bulbs aren't on yet but the workmen are there today, (at this minute swearing at each other and falling out over something). They caused a power cut last week and I had a dream last night there would be another power cut today. I HOPE SO. It would be my worst nightmare if they get these new ones switched on AND keep the old ones too, 'cos that'd be double the amount of light. Freedom - thanks for the advice. I'm going to keep up my complaint and join every skywatcher against light pollution forum I can find. WHY ARE THEY ABOUT 40FT TALL ANYWAY???????

Here's an update for anyone who's interested. The new street lights are working now and the old ones are gone, and the new ones are WHITE! What an amazing difference. I'm still not happy about the amount of light in my garden but the orange glow above the lights has gone and even though these are bright white they're still not filling the sky with light. It's a lot better and the pollution is halved. The bulbs are brighter but the all around, allover yellow haze has vanished. Not sure how it'll affect any sky-watching yet but I'm a lot happier. It was starting to do my head in. I'm just waiting for my neighbours to start complaining about the flood-lights showing the thieves around their gardens and hopefully the council will put wee shields up so the light goes only where it's supposed to go (onto the road and pavement) and It'll be perfect for star-gazing.

Come to Hong Kong. What Stars? They've all been removed either that or I can't see any of them cos of all the damm neon.

They are trying to get the advertising companies to turn of some of the lights cos of the environmental damage they are causing.

Light pollution. some how that has to be better than "Heavy Pollution". Right?

MonKey

when you complain to them just make sure to tell them that you dont want to remove the light you just want them changed to less light polluting more energy saving lights that actually put the light where its supposed to go.

Our street is filled with those orange light that seam to put light everywhere except where its needed. It would save them money in the long run by replacing them with better lights but they wont do it simply because it will cost them money, wheres the logic in that..

Edn, let's hope your local council has plans to renew you lights too. Normally when one council makes a change they all do. Look at the bin situation we have now. I hated those orange lights. We've had the new white ones for a week now and they really are good. Funny how the colour can make such a difference. The orange ones made a kind of glow that went everywhere, so even the sky was orange too. The white ones don't cast light upwards into the sky. The sky is black at night now. I can't remember when I last saw a black sky where I lived, normally we have to drive out to a remote country spot.