THANK YOU!

Lights Out LA was a huge success, thanks to all of you! We'd also like to extend a special thanks to those of you who sent photos and feedback. We've gotten amazing publicity including local, national, and international press, television, and radio.

Building off of all the positive responses we've received from folks across the country and even around the world, we're moving forward with Lights Out America. Please join us in taking it to the next level by participating in Lights Out America on March 29th, 2008! To pledge you support and learn more, please visit Lights Out America.

Not sure what to do when the lights go out?

After you turn off your lights (8-9pm PST tomorrow, Saturday, October 20th) try out one of the following:

-Help us out by taking photos and emailing them to pictures@lightsoutla.org.

-Treat yourself (and someone else) to a candlelight dinner.

-Learn How to Celebrate Candle Night.

-Tell scary stories or play hide-and-go-seek.

LOLA in the press

We've been featured in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and CBS2!

Arctic Warming

Evidence of global warming is made quite apparent by the disappearance of ice in the Arctic. Today, the New York Times ran an article demonstrating these effects: "New Coast Guard Task in Arctic's Warming Seas.

For more information on the effects of climate change take a look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Arctic Report Card, which "indicate[s] that the overall warming of the Arctic system continued in 2007."

Light Bulbs

We've been getting quite a few emails and questions regarding CFLs. Below you will find some information that I hope will prove useful:

5 Ways to Recycle a CFL

How to live with CFLs

Sierra Club's "Mr. Green" on CFLs

In response to those of you who have asked about "dimmable" and other types of CFLs, I suggest you inquire about them at your local hardware store or search online.

Yesterday I spoke with a representative from the SF Department of the Environment about the best way to dispose of used incandescent bulbs. Unfortunately, the best way to dispose of them is to put them in the garbage. The good news is that, if you're replacing your incandescent bulbs with CFLs, you'll be saving resources in the long-run!

A post for Blog Action Day

In honor of Blog Action Day, I'd like to point out an article the SF Chronicle ran on Sunday. Cities throughout California are setting up solar-powered parking lots. According to the Chronicle, “[a]lthough the demand for electricity peaks on days when the sun shines brightest, solar power accounts for less than 1 percent of California's total electricity supply”. Wouldn’t it be great to harness more energy from this life-giving star at the center of our solar system? For more information, read “Solar-powered parking lots”.

Eco news

According to the New Economics Foundation, "[t]he world moved into 'ecological overdraft' on Saturday, the point at which human consumption exceeds the ability of the earth to sustain it in any year and goes into the red". While it is not definite that this is the case, the article "World moves into the ecological red" includes some very scary and eye-opening facts. This one struck me as particularly poignant:

"If everyone in the world had the same consumption rates as in the United States it would take 5.3 planet earths to support them, NEF said, noting that the figure was 3.1 for France and Britain, 3.0 for Spain, 2.5 for Germany and 2.4 for Japan."



Thank you to Graham, who wrote in to alert us of an article entitled "Is light pollution killing out birds?" which states:

"Recent research has shown a reduction in the populations of moths, spiders, sparrows and amphibians, supporting the case for light pollution being considered a threat to the environment as well as to astronomers - who find the glare interfering with their observations - and householders - who complain of the visual intrusion caused by security lights and insensitive street lighting."


Visit www.lightpollution.org to download a PDF of the entire article.

Just some more food for thought.