Turn off street lights

[Phil Turner]

Following a recent letter from our local council regarding new street lights, I have written to them to ask why, whats wrong with the old ones and why so many. If you stand in front of our house you can see 5 lamp posts all burning electricity, and whilst Stockport Council insist that CO2 and climate change is at the top of their agenda they still have not replied to my last letter asking why are there so many and what does it take to start an initiative where Street lights are turned off. So I ask everyone for their thoughts and where do I start to campaign for every other street light in the country to be turned off, imagine the saving in energy - and whats the argument against doing it ? I just cant see one as our streets are completely over lit, maybe we can start the ball rolling here

http://www.globalwarmingart.com/images/e/e5/Earth_Lights_from_Space...

[Pamela Ostrom]

Oh, I noticed Karen's remark about LED bulbs and it reminded me that I read an article about light bulbs. The good news is that scientists are making halogen light bulbs better (softer light, longer lasting, cooler) now and they will eventually replace the LED bulbs. Which is wonderful because LED bulbs have mercury in them and you know most people are NOT taking them somewhere to be recycled (plus, what if you break one?) and that mercury is going into the garbage...and then the environment. Halogen bulbs don't have mercury.

Hooray for science...and the green movement!

[Roberta Rose]

Hi Pamela

I dont think the led bulbs have mercury in them..its the flourescent lights that have mercury in them . I'm not 100% sure but .....
I know what you mean though. We should make ourselves aware of the lighting we use.

I found this on Halogen...http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/halogen-lights-look-good-but...

[Diamond]

Here here...switch them off now...al of them...at midnight is a good time.

What a great idea for wind up lights tho PHIL. Im not sure abut in the streets but there is no reason why we can't have wind up lamps in our houses is there? Wind you own energy. Can you imagine if it could be applied to all electric appliances? hey we would all be fitter too. No need for a WII gym or games. Just get winding the washing machine up and even the electric radiators.

I think it's a brilliant idea don't you?

"Wind the washer up
wind the washer up
PULL
PULL
clap clap clap"

[Phil Turner]

If it can be done on a torch.......how about a handle on the side of a house, oooh think of all the money the greedy power companies would loose out on, I used to have a dynamo on my bike , Free lights as long as you kept pedalling

[Roberta Rose]

Well you've got something going here Phil.

The dynamo principle or wind up sounds really good to me. I gues the wind farms are the same principle arent they. The wind does the winding up and the electricity is generated from it all.

So in my books I'm for wind power anyday.
Has anybody made a wind up lamp for a house yet?

So whats the way forward with your campaign?

If the govt capped the councils for large elec bills unfortunately the council would pass that onto the people via council tax.

I wonder what the real solution is? And how might all of this pull together?

[Phil Turner]

I imagine a solution would be to build or convert an existing house and make it work on wind solar and wind up / clockwork - to us oldies, interestingly, Ellen Mac Arthur has announced she is to stop racing round the world and made a comparison that the planet is like a ship with limited resources. I like the comparison but also as a sailor its possible to run a ship using everything we mentioned, its a shame so much money is channeled into weapons and supporting greedy bankers and business relying on consumerism instead of looking at welfare and sustainability.
I listened to a young man talking on the radio about his living conditions and how he couldnt afford to pay his electricity bill and therefore evenings were spent in darkness.
I imagine a sustainable house isnt the dream of a government reliant on taxes to support an outdated way of living, change must come about through the power of people.
Now that starts another conversation - who do you vote for?

[Allana Lane]

It seems wind up power isn't as far fetched as we might think.

I sourced this article about the technlogy of the wind up radio being prototyped for electrical energy in homes in Africa.
Its an old Article of two years but its very interesting and Id love to know how the "Lifelight Project" is faring to day.

Here's the article brief

Wind-up lights for African homes
Maasai woman with Lifeline radio, Freeplay Foundation
The Freeplay Foundation has given out more than 150,000 radios
The technology behind the wind-up radio could soon be helping to light up some of the poorest homes in Africa.

The Freeplay Foundation is developing prototypes of a charging station for house lights it hopes will improve the quality of life for many Africans.

The Foundation said the lights would replace the expensive, polluting and unhealthy alternatives many Africans currently use to light their homes.

Field testing of the prototypes will start in Kenya in the next few months.

and here is the link if anybody wants to bob over and have a peek

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7072741.stm