Lucas Willis, Cherry Hill

The South Jersey suburbs have long been bathed in an orange glow every night, outdoor illumination being a necessity in our 24-hour world for safety and visibility. However, it's easy for an ill-placed or poorly chosen light fixture to have a needlessly deleterious effect on the night sky and surroundings, while simultaneously failing to provide safe, glare-free lighting. We can do better.

This problem is rapidly getting worse with the availability of affordable, ultra-high brightness LED fixtures. Worse, commercial properties are more likely to leave them on all night due to the lower operating cost compared to older lights.

Glare from unshielded lights is distracting while driving and can be uncomfortable, triggering light sensitivity response which can make it impossible to identify a well-lit person or object (think headlight glare). This can make things easier for burglars, as well (a flashlight is more noticeable than a figure obscured by glare).

Light trespass onto adjoining property can make people miserable, disrupting sleep cycles and affecting mood (imagine a streetlight beaming through your windows). For wildlife it's worse; many birds and insects have their feeding and breeding cycles interrupted by artificial light, exacerbated by bright white LEDs which are much more intense than even a full moon. Light pollution can even disturb trees and plants, interrupting the ability to adjust to the seasons.

The solution is quite simple. Don't install more light than needed and use "full cutoff" light fixtures, and motion sensors on residential lights. Many cities and towns have put ordinances in place to reduce light pollution and the results are dramatic. In parts of Tucson, Ariz., the Milky Way is visible again, without compromising safety and security.

The night sky is a shared natural resource, and humans are wired to experience night time - we're playing out a grand experiment and studies indicate excessive artificial light is not good for us.

For more information, I encourage you to read the International Dark Skies Association website, the NLPIP website, or read the research about the negative health effects of light pollution.

Contact your town and local representatives and tell them you want light pollution ordinances put in place. Talk to your neighbor about light trespass and know your rights. We don't put up with water runoff, dangerous tree limbs, and noise pollution, why should lighting be any different?

Lucas Willis

Cherry Hill