Since the early 20th century, mankind has been using electric lighting to light our streets, homes and businesses at night. Unfortunately, mankind has not been very smart when it comes to where the lighting is being directed. Unbeknownst to the individuals using it, some of the lighting is being directed beyond the target of interest and up into the night sky where it reflects off particles in our atmosphere.

This wasted lighting costs money. It is certainly smarter and more economical if lighting was exclusively focused on the subjects of interest rather than being allowed to spill into areas where it is not required.

Light pollution is a contamination of light in our night sky, washing out the fainter celestial objects. In some cities, light pollution is so bad that on some nights even the brightest stars are washed out.

Fortunately, light pollution is the easiest type of pollution to clean up. All it takes is switching off light sources that are unnecessary, installing cut off caps on streetlights (and security lights) and lowering the power (wattage) of the lights themselves. This saves everyone money, reduces the strain on our power grid, assists to restore the splendor of the night sky to everyone. Light pollution abatement is simply a classic case of a win-win scenario.