Fifteen Ways to Help CfDS

1. Tell astronomers and non-astronomers about the skyglow issue, stressing energy and money wasted. What would they think if water mains leaked every few metres?
   
   
2. Convince interested parties that astronomers are normal people with the same lighting needs as them. We do not want to switch off any necessary lights.
   
   
3. Ask libraries, bulletin boards, environmental offices, education departments etc. to carry CfDS information.
   
   
4. Inform local media. They often welcome "green" issues. But insist on some editorial control to avoid headlines such as "Star-gazers Call for Big Switch-Off".
   
   
5. Offer to speak to schools and groups. Any discussion of the Earth in Space and the stars can include light pollution.
   
   
6. Ask neighbours about lighting plans, and show them, at the telescope, why you enjoy the night sky.
   
   
7. Approach those with obtrusive lights. Many individuals and organisations will not even know that there is a problem. Those who have done so often report improvements.
   
   
8. Write to local councillors, council lighting/highway engineers, MPs, MEPs, sports clubs etc. to ask about their views and lighting policies. Use CfDS and Institution of Lighting Engineers (ILE) literature.
   
   
9. If new, less glary lighting is perceived by some to be dimmer, make sure that they understand the efficiency of modern, better directed lamps. Not seeing the glare is a good thing.
   
   
10. Write to Central Government environment officials, asking why the UK has subscribed to international energy initiatives (Agenda 21, Kyoto protocols etc.) yet continues to waste millions of pounds on light-energy waste every year.
    
    
11. If you or any group you belong to has a website, link to the Campaign for Dark Skies. (Our web address may be changing, so please use a search engine for the Campaign)
    
    
12. Investigate the views of your local police and Watch organisations on “security” lighting. Dazzling, “over-the-top” lamps can be the burglars’ friend.
    
    
13. Try to forestall poor lighting schemes by studying planning applications and making sure your council has lighting clauses in its planning and environmental strategies.
    
    
14. HELP CfDS DIRECTLY by subscribing to its newsletter, donating to its fighting fund, becoming a local officer or distributing its literature.
    
    
15. Ask your MEP why the European Environment Commissioners continue to insist that light pollution is not a problem which the European Union should address.
    
    

REMEMBER: "Broadsides", carping criticism and accusing someone of being a polluter are counter-productive strategies. With all those experts on our side (e.g. the ILE, International Commission on Illumination (CIE), CPRE, BSI, Countryside Commission, major supermarket chains, Highways Agency), we can reclaim the night sky through reasoned argument and strength in numbers. There is no argument in favour of light pollution. Everyone wins if it is reduced.

To Our Children, the Stars.