Wonder over Waste

Let’s go back to the candle-style porch lantern, which you are by now realizing I must want to toss to the trash heap of history. Sure, they can look lovely and stylistically appropriate for a home, but if I want to use the light then traditional porch lanterns do just about everything wrong. Candle-style bulbs atop a fake candle put most of their light in your eyes – and a second large helping into the sky. That is called waste at best – energy and light that does absolutely nothing for us – and light pollution at worst. 

We use a lot of cylinders on modern homes that dramatically cut down on glare. But the most popular versions shine light down at the floor (safety first!) and up into the air (for dramatic effect). The upwards facing light is wasted if there is no roof overhead, and the aggregate of thousands of these fixtures in our neighborhoods makes it hard for us to appreciate the stars. There is wonderful light over our heads many evenings, but our waste makes it impossible to see.