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Another success!!

We would like to announce another success – a win for nature in the San Lorenzo River by cutting unnecessary light hitting the water.

Largely through our advocacy, Santa Cruz City Public Works installed light-blocking tape on the sides of the hundred plus bridge lights that face the river. This significantly reduced the extra light intruding into the river, at the same time not diminishing public safety.

Increasing scientific evidence points to the detrimental effects of bright light at night on fish, birds, other nocturnal species, and people.

We would like to thank Santa Cruz City Public Works, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Valley Women’s Club, and our other local environmental partners for their support.

We hope this success is another in a long chain of improvements in the night time environment here in Santa Cruz, including replacing all unshielded blue-white lights with fully-shielded warm spectrum lighting, culminating in a dark sky friendly city ordinance.

If you have a lighting concern in the community, please let us know.

Please join us at our monthly meetings, which take place on the first Monday of the month at 7 PM.

Please contact us at idasantacruzca@gmail.com.

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Success!

The Santa Cruz Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association celebrates the successful removal of unnecessarily bright and glaring external lighting from a factory on the far west side of Santa Cruz.

Too bright lights waste energy and pollute the environment. Lighting like this can be dimmed and shielded.

These lights, installed in violation of city code, generated light pollution that could be seen far beyond the boundaries of the business. They also wasted electricity, causing more pollution.

They could be seen well over a mile away from Wilder Ranch State Park!

We express our gratitude to the concerned citizens with whom we worked, and to Santa Cruz City Code Enforcement.

This business can ensure the safety of its employees and property without resorting to polluting the nearby environment, which includes residents, parks, and riparian areas.

Watch this space for any updates!