LEWES, Del. - Light pollution is a rising problem in many cities across the country.
The town of Lewes addressed that issue at a recent Planning Commission Meeting. They brought in the expertise of Randy Burkett, a lighting designer who said Lewes isn't the first town to be concerned about the effects of light pollution on their town.
"Lewes wants to see more stars, they want to have a community that has a good glare control and has positive seeing conditions," Burkett said.
But the question many ask is what exactly is light pollution? It's any man made light that diminishes the view of the sky. There are many types like glare and light trespass, which is when other people's lights come into your home or light is shining too bright from a building.
Some locals like Abraxas Hudson think light pollution was bound to happen.
"Light pollution is going to be common anywhere, you've got human activity at night, right? We're a downtown environment, so we're going to have light spilling out from the streetlights radiating up from the homes and the cars," Hudson said.
There are ways to help mitigate light pollution like using concealed light sources and light covers that specifically direct light from shining directly into the sky.
Even though light pollution is a big concern, there are some simple solutions.Â
"It's fairly easy to get rid of, unlike plastic which can float in the ocean for an eternity, when you turn the light off, it's gone," Burkett said.
While some like Hudson said light pollution is a matter of having personal choices.
"Light pollution is going to be an obvious consequence of human action but the real reality is we just have to weigh that with the rights of the individual to live their lives as they see fit," Hudson said.Â