Special Presentation on Dark Skies and Beautiful Safe Lighting

On Thursday, April 1st, Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation and Glen Ellyn Cool Cities Coalition will co-sponsor a special presentation on the environmental effect of light at night and what we can do to have beautiful, safe lighting around our streets, businesses, homes and landscapes. Debra Lazar Pearl and Debra Briggs Norvil, executive board directors of Illinois Coalition for Responsible Outdoor Lighting, will discuss the effects of light pollution on our health and the environment, and will offer alternatives that are safer, more attractive and less wasteful.

The implications of turning night to day are not isolated, nor small. There is a large price tag not just in money, but also in human health and environmental impact. Every ecosystem, indeed all-life, has evolved to exist in an environment of half day and half night. Affected are predator and prey relationships of nocturnal wildlife, human health that includes depletion of known tumor-suppressant hormones produced when sleeping in non-darkened environments and the resulting hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 emitted in energy production each year to light the Chicago area.

Illumination at night is an important component of our lifestyle, bringing accessibility to activities that may not otherwise be feasible. However, light that never reaches its intended target is pure waste, and light that is emitted as glare impairs vision. A simple assessment asking Where, When, and How Much – is a great first-step to enabling responsible and sustainable actions.

The presentation will cover not only some of the most common lighting practices found on main-streets today and their causal impacts, but also, by positive contrast, some of the surprising uncommon practices – that yield substantial energy savings, improved environmental conditions, and happy neighbors.

Time: Thursday, April 1st
7:30 p.m.

Place: Glen Ellyn Civic Center
Clayton Room
535 Duane Street, Glen Ellyn, IL

Free admission, coffee and brownies will be served

For more information on the Illinois Coalition for Responsible Outdoor Lighting and the environmental and health effects of light pollution:
http://www.illinoislighting.org/

Also:

Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation:
http://www.glenellynpreservation.org/

Glen Ellyn Cool Cities Coalition:
http://www.glenellyn-coolcities.blogspot.com/