Houston Sierra Club invited Debbie Moran and Steve Goldberg at the April 2018 monthly meeting to present  light pollution: what it is, how it affects nature and humans, and how to mitigate it.  We enjoyed a demonstration to observe how the color of light and sconce shape reduce the amount of light wasted, reducing the pollution or glare created.

Knowing how to spend our money and where to place lighting are critical to sparing our nocturnal friends from light polluting their biological rhythms, protecting human health, and intelligently protecting our property from nighttime crime. Houston recently updated many of its city street lights with LED but did not employ soft light glare reduction recommendations. These recommendations come from the American Medical Association and International Dark Sky Association.

Houston can look to Tucson, Arizona for a model of lighting up its city streets with LED lights with several goals in mind: reduce carbon emissions, reduce energy consumption, reduce maintenance, yet provide proper lighting and ensure security. To learn more about Tucson’s LED-lit streets, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJL-WPwjMQM.

What’s happening locally? Visit the Houston Area Citizens for Responsible Lighting to learn more about appropriate lighting to better secure and light our homes and businesses at http://www.softlighthouston.com/