A community project

The idea: For one hour turn off as many lights and unnecessary switches in the area of Alford, Aberdeenshire

Ojectives:

1. create an opportunity to appreciate the night sky which is no longer possible in the area
2. raise awareness of energy waste

Date: Wednesday, 21st of March (the vernal equinox)

Programme:  

Cosmic Dome Alford Public Hall
6.30-8.10pm: 5 shows of 20minutes

Explore the constellations in this thrilling presentation housed in a mobile planetarium

• book tickets at W & R Murray's Main St Alford £1
• not suitable for unaccompanied children or kids under 5
• not suitable for people who don't like enclosed spaces

Switch Off - Look Up

8.15pm Gather at the Grampian Transport Museum (Watchmaker's Lane entrance)

8.30-9.30pm : Enjoy a guided tour of the night sky,
including telescope viewings courtesy of Aberdeen Astronomical Society.

• You can bring your own supper under the stars
• You are welcome to bring your own telescope
• Join in star-counting experiments
• Bring a torch if you have one
• Please dress to keep warm and visible

Please Switch Off all unnecessary lights and appliances during this hour!

The Cosmic Dome in Alford Public Hall - Photo Credit: Robbie Gauld

Community involvement: The 'GrampianLife Forum' is a group of like-minded individuals drawn together to improve our local environment and local communities. The group organises its activity on this site but welcomes the involvement of other individuals and groups. The current project developed in the 'ACTION!  » Switch Off - look up' discussion on this site. Expressions of support for the project have also come from:

• Alford Community Development Group
• Aberdeen Astronomical society
• Alford Academy
• Grampian Transport Museum
• Councillor Richard Stroud
• countless local groups and residents
  
• Campaign for Dark Skies
• Earth Hour (WWF Australia)
  
• Andri Snær Magnason (the Icelandic poet)

Sponsors: Thankyou to Alan Grant Grampian Ltd and ACG Contracts Ltd for making this event possible.

Media Coverage: Read here the latest.

Light Pollution Map: See here nighttime light pollution in NE Scotland.

The Poem: Read here 'Up to the night sky' written specially for this project.

The Precedent: Read here how Andri Snær Magnason's project switched off Reykjavic's lights in September 2006.

Related Info: Read here about similar projects around the world and links to other interesting sites. 

Photograph of Alford, taken 8pm 26/2/07. Credit: Robbie Gauld

Please show your support and leave any ideas in a comment.

You're also encouraged to let others know about the project. You can send them an email by clicking below.

	19-03-2007 10:33
	Shameful!!     Just remember, come election time, who vetoed this event and prevented your children from seeing the true splendour of the night sky.

Nick Graham

	19-03-2007 08:58
	I am very sad to hear that we can't switch the lights off in Alford for 'safety reasons'. How about the 'safety' and health of our future generations ? How about the growing numbers of children who have never seen the awesome beauty of a really dark sky before? It would have been such a simple and effective way to raise people's awareness of the beauty of our natural environment. An environment that we are in danger of losing-which as I see it is the real 'safety' issue here.   We should seriously question why we cannot acheive something so simple (its only Alford, not London !) and why in the UK we seem so keen to allow issues of 'health and safety' to stop us acheiving the important things in life.     But at last we will have the wonderful Cosmic Dome there...where the skies will really be dark!     Gill Russell  Visual Artist for the Highland Constellation Project

Gill Russell (Visual Artist)

	19-03-2007 08:57
	I think it is a great shame that the Solu Project can not go ahead as planned, especially for the younger generation. I sincerely hope the organisers continue in their planning having learned by the experience and develop an even more imaginative project for the future.

Fiona MacDonald MBE

	16-03-2007 10:21
	Such a pity that the "switch off" part of the event now looks doomed. It is a scandal that our elected representative has not been more supportive, and that public servants in Aberdeenshire Council have not seen fit to throw their full support behind this venture, and indeed have actively prevented it from happening! Are all our community led activities to be so blocked?

Jim

	05-03-2007 23:27
	Earth hour Hi - think this is a great idea! We'll be doing it here in the UK - do you know if there is a UK contact? thanks lots!

lex

	05-03-2007 23:27
	All the best I am sorry that I can’t make it to the event since I shall be at Westminster on parliamentary business. I would like to wish you all the best and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the community on raising awareness about energy waste and light pollution.    Sir Robert Smith MP (Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine)

Sir Robert Smith MP

	04-03-2007 06:32
	This is great! What an awesome idea :) I used to live in a country town, and when I go back, I can't help but stare at the stars that I never see in Brisbane... Best of luck, and I hope you get a heap of support!    Laulita.

Laulita

	27-02-2007 12:14
	cow turns out its lights For what its worth, Creative Object World (cow) will close for an hour as we in Adelaide have a lights out hour in March.    Now Im hosting www.creativeobjectworld.com from home I realise how much electricity gets used hosting a website.. so I decided to make cow eco-ware. While you use it you should switch off an electrical appliance to offset my electricity use.

wolis (South Australia)

	27-02-2007 12:13
	Gr8 idea Gr8 idea. hope lots go to see. When in OZ I enjoyed looking at night sky wonderful no clouds its amazing. Hope for cloudless night.

Sheena (Aberdeenshire)

	22-02-2007 11:53
	Good luck I’m delighted to hear that you are not only discussing climate change and related issues, but organizing to take action. I have two suggestions for you, firstly, keep in touch with the people who take part in this – a list of contacts of people prepared to actually do something is a valuable thing. Secondly, squeeze what you can out of what you are doing. Make contact with the local press beforehand – they’ll promote it for you and they might have some good suggestions. Make contact with the appropriate local government officers, shops and other sources of unnecessary light. Use your own efforts to try to leverage others.     Anyway, good luck, and please let me know how things go.    Graham Thompson  Supporter Services  Greenpeace UK

Graham Thompson (Greenpeace)

	18-02-2007 15:17
	CfDS supports 'Switch Off - Look Up' The Campaign for Dark-skies encourages everyone to turn off unnecessary lighting, and to install only efficient lighting. Lighting should only shine light downwards where it is needed - not outwards where it can have a negative impact on safety and security, nor upwards where it wastes money and destroys our view of the stars.    Hence, the CfDS supports the GrampianLife 'Switch Off - Look Up' initiative. Everyone should be allowed to see the awe-inspiring sight of a sky full of stars, without unnecessary lighting impeding the view.

Dr Darren Baskill (CfDS)

	12-02-2007 04:44
	Best wishes from Oz Hi there - I'm one of the team at WWF-Australia that are helping to co-ordinate Earth Hour in Sydney on March 31 - http://earthhour.org    It's great to see initiatives like this taking off around the world - in France to mark the IPCC report launch, and now this one on the 21st!    We all wish you the best of luck in Alford :)

Grant (Australia)

	12-02-2007 04:50
	I remember... I remember some 15+ years ago I brought three young children up from the Manchester area to give their Mother a break and the children an insight into a different world. The first night I got them all out of bed wrapped them up against the cold of a really frosty night and took them out into the back garden. At first they were a little afraid because they had never experienced night without artificial light and they were also puzzled as to what they were supposed to be doing, until one of them looked up and gasped in wonder. The others followed the firsts gaze and each in turn laid down on the frosty ground and just stared and stared, totally enthralled. Those children have never forgotten that experience and that I can understand because I did the same thing when I was a child.    Unfortunately the opportunity to view the night sky is not the same now because of light pollution unless you are well North or West.     Chick  _________________

Chick (Alford)

	09-02-2007 15:33
	Congratulations Congratulations on the Switch Off idea for Alford in March.

Anne (Aberdeen)

	08-02-2007 11:02
	Congratulations I think this is an excellent idea and should be followed up by Councils adopting the European model of switching off every alternate street light after dark and setting traffic lights to flashing amber after the evening rush hour.

Nancy Gregson

	12-02-2007 04:46
	Crathes, Drumoak and Durris Community On 18 Jan, Crathes, Drumoak and Durris Community Council wrote to Aberdeenshire Council on the self-same subject, as follows:-    ...  In addition to rising energy costs, the urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the growing public distaste for “light pollution” demand that these issues be reconsidered, for reasons which include:-  · the relatively tiny numbers of people benefiting at such times  · car headlights being hugely more efficient than when all-night street lighting became common  · the counter-productive effect of loss of night vision because of the accommodation reflex of a driver's eye, as he/she passes from an unlighted to a lighted area and vice versa (this being of particular relevance to Aberdeenshire, given its scattered communities)  · the fact that oncoming headlights are more visible against a black background than a grey one  · the lack of reliable evidence on the crime prevention effect of general street lighting (as distinct from individual building security lighting)  ...    CDDCC wishes to propose that street lighting be extinguished between the hours of 0100 and 0500 daily...  Extinguishing unnecessary lighting in this way would result in energy savings of perhaps 40%, averaged over the year.    [Full transcript]

John Hopkins (Aberdeenshire)

	09-02-2007 22:34
	Get involved I am happy to be involved. This is potentially an opportunity for many groups in the community and representatives to make a real and positive change that saves money, saves energy and may help to save our climate!

Jim (Whitehouse)

	12-02-2007 04:45
	Great to hear about your idea Great to hear about your idea.  ...  The event in Iceland will hopefully be done again...  We had silence, no crime and people walking around in dark neighborhoods feeling a different mood, darkness is not scary and evil but quite romantic.     Let me know if there is anything I can do and if you need more information.  [Click to see Andri's full message of support]    Andri Snær Magnason

Andri Snær Magnason (Iceland)

	19-02-2007 00:26
	Dark Skies I hope everyone will feel that this is a worthwhile project and think about how unnecessary light pollution is damaging the environment. However, as a keen amateur astronomer myself, I'd like to make it clear that I'm not anti-lighting. I'm very interested in just having appropriate levels of lighting that is well directed and managed. The Institute of Lighting Engineers publishes an excellent set of guidelines for this (OUTDOOR LIGHTING guidelines). The basic gist is that outdoor lights should have a flat clear bottom which is horizontal.  The Campaign for Dark Skies (Campaign for Dark Skies) are always on the lookout for enthusiasts to help their work - and we can learn from them too.    Clear Dark and Steady Skies    Torcuill

Torcuill Torrance (Aberdeen)

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