Those individuals, who aim to reduce light pollution, know the importance of using appropriate outdoor lighting systems that do not shine light aimlessly into the night sky. However many individuals, though they may encounter light pollution everyday, are actually unaware of the fact that it even exists. Light pollution is caused by excessive lighting shining brightly into the night sky. Excessive lighting is most frequently seen from: shopping centers, restaurants, corporate buildings, homes and so forth. Often time, these places have lights shining at impractical times, the lights typically shine up into the sky instead of downwards toward the ground, and thus the night sky becomes covered in a hazy blanket making the stars impossible to see.

As a result, many individuals are fighting back to reduce pollution and to save the night sky. In fact, this year the week of March 29th to April 4th is dedicated to this mission, this week is known as National Dark-Sky Week. It comes every year at a different time, typically coming in April at the time of a new moon. This week is designed to encourage individuals to reduce their outdoor lighting in order to temporarily reduce light pollution.

It may seem strange to think that a week of reducing outdoor lighting could actually help reduce light pollution in the long run. After all seven days of reduced lighting could not have the power to keep light pollution away. But, this week is not designed to merely reduce light pollution for a short period of time; its bigger purpose is to raise awareness. As mentioned above, many individuals do not even know what light pollution is, even though they can easily see it everyday by just looking into the night sky. The hope is that by encouraging individuals to reduce outdoor lighting, and to use appropriate. sky friendly fixtures which face downward and not up into the sky, we can make people aware of what light pollution is and assist them in taking the appropriate steps in making their home night-sky friendly.

National Dark-Sky Week only happens once a year, but its impact could be felt everyday if our goal is met. Please join in with us this week and cut unneeded outdoor lighting! Take time this week to look into the night sky and see its splendor. Is this a site we can afford to lose? Of course not!!! We at Starry Night Lights say give it a try and consider the results on both the environment and your pocket. Save the night sky, use night-sky friendly outdoor lighting fixtures and keep light from shining where it is not needed