We have recently done extensive research projects and experiments on light pollution and how it affects astronomers, the city’s budget and environmental patterns. Our researches have included how one-fourth of the city’s energy use is to lighting. We have also researched how over illuminating affects human health as well as animals.
Our team would like to make changes around the city with the city’s approval and government funding. We would like to change all of the city lamps to cut-off’s which provide light only to the street and do not contribute to “sky glow”. Our team also want to install metal halide bulbs on the lamps which will cut energy costs by fifty percent. Also we would like to change all traffic signals to LED. We would also like to host a light pollution campaign around Toronto schools and businesses to educate people on how to reduce light pollution and possibly encourage them to pursue astronomy. We will bring snacks and pamphlets for students and workers to take home. Over time these Changes will boost the economy and the program will pay for its self.
We have worked with many other cities such as Halifax and Vancouver with successful results. Our team has cut there energy cost’s by over forty-six percent over a period of one year. Our educational campaign has been successful with educating home owners on how to save on electricity bills thus increasing the economy by twenty-three percent.
Our team has done researches on how light pollution affects humans. We have recorded patterns with people aged 25-60 exposed to light pollution. We’ve done tests that conclude that people exposed to light pollution have an increase in headaches, nausea, and even in some cases, eye damage. Light pollution in work spaces has leaded to an increase of fatigue and headaches among workers.
We have seen light pollution affecting the environment. Birds and animals which navigate using light are being disoriented by the glaring light. Birds have certain patterns in which they follow the sun’s light while the sun is setting but while the sun is setting city lights are turning on so birds get confused and crash into skyscrapers and/or the reflection of the light on the water. Basically all animals that use the light to navigate are being disoriented.
My team and I are all amateur astronomers as well as activists. We are greatly affected by light pollution as the city is ten times brighter than the country side. It is extremely difficult to even get a glimpse of a star in Toronto but a few hundred kilometres away we see hundreds. Many young adults live in the city and would like to explore astronomy but are only limited to textbooks and internet resources. If we even reduce city lights by 30 percent we will be able to see three or four stars without the use of a telescope.
We have established one facility in Mississauga which takes young adults to Cambridge Ontario to physically see stars rather than see them in text books. We charge them a fee of forty-five dollars to pay for the telescopes and the fuel used for the bus. We would like to close down that facility and open a new one in Toronto which charges no money, so any child can experience astronomy, no matter the financial situation. We would also like to open a few more facilities in Toronto for other purposes such as a research lab and a facility for students to rent instruments such as telescopes and books. We would also like to work with construction companies building high rise buildings to use glare-proof glass to prevent driver distraction which is a driving hazard. We will ask Existing condominium
and high rise office building owners to replace their glass with some of our help and possibly create a by-law requiring the buildings to.
Our team understands the city’s financial situation so we will start of small, just replacing lights around the East end of Toronto and working our way to South. If the financial situation becomes too tight and you can not fund us in the middle of our project we will stop and resume at the city’s will. We are asking for an estimated 7 million dollars for the first 12 months. We have a plan setup so the city traffic will not be strained too heavily during the process.
****Salaries may change on days of bad weather and/or delays
I hope you will consider my proposal, if you would like I could provide you with the statistics chart of the previous cities I have worked with. Thank you for your time
