Trees are confused by night lighting and retain their leaves past autumn. Birds migrate out of season and sing in the artificial daylight of the night. Female sea turtles avoid brightly lit beaches when they lay their eggs because the hatched turtles, instinctively told to head for the light of the moon and the sea, end up wandering down streets. Humans are blinded by glare when driving their automobiles, and pedestrians, blinded by glare from streetlights, are prey for criminals. The human race is robbed of the beautiful night sky.
Light pollution is the wasted light from street lights that goes to the sides and up.
This misdirected light hides the stars. We explain the causes and solutions to light pollution to our sidewalk viewers. They all understand and want to know how they can help solve the problem. We give them information sheets and ask them to call their local government to request that laws be passed to require shaded lights. In the Fall of 1998, the club worked with the city of Chicago to have six street lights near the school replaced with the proper shaded lights.