Smithies and Light Pollution

If you are walking around campus or the surrounding Northampton after sunset, many lights come on to produce a beautiful glowing scene. Around winter months, many holiday lights are put up in and around Smith College and turned on every night, including around trees downtown. Though we look at them with amazement and find our path gorgeously lit up, the beauty is just a cover for the unsustainable practice of light pollution.

Light pollution includes the excessive use of artificial light that affects wildlife, human health, and the ability to see stars. Any upward-emitting light that brightens the sky causes light pollution and produces energy waste. The excessive amount of street lights on and around campus and lighting around buildings like the campus center that stay on throughout the night contribute to this issue.

One major problem with light pollution is public health and safety. Artificial skylight intensities can cause a suppression of melatonin production, which can contribute to sleep disorders and disturbances in sleep cycles. Other health issues associated with light pollution include diabetes, cancers, depression, and obesity. Public safety is also affected, as glare from streetlights and other outside lights is dangerous for drivers and pedestrians. High-intensity light like LEDs can cause drivers to have reduced road visibility and put pedestrians at risk.

Light pollution also affects wildlife. Prey use the night for protection against predators, which use light to hunt. Insects are widely affected by light pollution, as many are drawn to light and become more vulnerable to predators. Nocturnal animals are also tricked by this sense of light, disrupting feeding, mating, migration, and sleeping patterns. Many migratory species go off course, as light pollution hinders moonlight and starlight.

Electricity is a huge contributor to greenhouse gases, as electricity production was 25% of 2021 greenhouse gas emissions. Electric power is the second largest generator of greenhouse gases, as much of it comes from burning fossil fuels. Light pollution is a complete waste of this energy, as there is no need to keep so many lights on at once. Holiday lights are considered a heavy source of light pollution, and the constantly-lit decorations around campus contribute to this. Most outside lighting is shielded and positioned poorly, wasting electricity as it only goes upwards towards the sky. Unnecessary electricity also wastes money, as $3.3 billion goes into outside lighting, releasing 21 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Reducing the carbon footprint of Smith College students and the surrounding Northampton area may be accomplished with time and funding. Lighting is still important at night for safety, as pedestrians need to see where they are walking, and drivers need to be able to see the pedestrians. Installing motion sensor lighting around campus, avoiding the use of strong LEDs, shielding light structures so light is not exposed to the open night sky, and turning off unnecessary outdoor and holiday lights are just a few things we can do to decrease light pollution around Smith College. This will benefit the Smith community, anyone driving or passing by, and wildlife. We can enjoy both safely being outside at night and seeing the stars clearly by reducing our impact on light pollution.