Earth Day events light up town
By: Alex Henderson, Staff Writer
Issue date: 4/18/07 Section: Online Exclusives
Residents seeking events to celebrate Earth Day this weekend might have to look a little harder after the cancellation of Earth Action Fest's regular town events.
Volunteer Rachel Pittman said the festival will not be held this year because of competition with other events.
"There's so much going on for Earth Day, since it falls on a weekend," Pittman said. "We were not going to be able to do the event justice."
The group's Web site, www.earthactionfest.org, already has information up about its 2008 events, which will be held in Smith Middle School, chosen because it is "an environmentally designed school." The event will be held April 13, 2008.
Carrboro Alderman Randee Haven-O'Donnell said the main Earth Day activities will be in Durham, where the tradition is older.
Although the Earth Action Fest events are canceled, there still are a number of other activities planned for Triangle residents.
Morehead Planetarium, along with Sustainability at UNC and the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, hosted a free show and walking tour of Franklin Street and the University campus Tuesday addressing the impact of light pollution as part of UNC Earth Week.
The show, titled "Our Vanishing Night," provided the audience with representations of the night sky as seen from Chapel Hill, complete with light interference from nearby urban areas.
Adult programs director Amy Sayle, who said she has been running shows for eight years, brought the lights down with Van Morrison's "Here Comes the Night" playing in the background.
From there, the audience witnessed the transformation of the starless urban night sky into the star-filled sky our ancestors were used to.
Orange County Board of Commissioners vice chairman Barry Jacobs spoke before the show.
"It is important for us to blend in with our surroundings," he said. "I live in the country, I like it being dark."
Jacobs said he wanted to see more people in Orange County switch to more efficient light sources and uses.
Terri Buckner, with Sustainability at UNC, said the emphasis on light pollution came from the coincidence of Earth Week with International Dark Sky Week.
"I want people to understand that more light is not necessarily safer," she said. "Tonight was just about education."
The audience split up into groups that toured Franklin Street and the campus while guides pointed out different types of lights and how well they dealt with the issue of light pollution.
Bob Talley, an electrical engineer, said the best way to avoid light pollution is to set light bulbs higher up into their lamp casings, thus reducing the spillover that bleeds into the sky.
Lamps that fail to properly set their bulbs in this way are called "glare bombs."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
Volunteer Rachel Pittman said the festival will not be held this year because of competition with other events.
"There's so much going on for Earth Day, since it falls on a weekend," Pittman said. "We were not going to be able to do the event justice."
The group's Web site, www.earthactionfest.org, already has information up about its 2008 events, which will be held in Smith Middle School, chosen because it is "an environmentally designed school." The event will be held April 13, 2008.
Carrboro Alderman Randee Haven-O'Donnell said the main Earth Day activities will be in Durham, where the tradition is older.
Although the Earth Action Fest events are canceled, there still are a number of other activities planned for Triangle residents.
Morehead Planetarium, along with Sustainability at UNC and the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, hosted a free show and walking tour of Franklin Street and the University campus Tuesday addressing the impact of light pollution as part of UNC Earth Week.
The show, titled "Our Vanishing Night," provided the audience with representations of the night sky as seen from Chapel Hill, complete with light interference from nearby urban areas.
Adult programs director Amy Sayle, who said she has been running shows for eight years, brought the lights down with Van Morrison's "Here Comes the Night" playing in the background.
From there, the audience witnessed the transformation of the starless urban night sky into the star-filled sky our ancestors were used to.
Orange County Board of Commissioners vice chairman Barry Jacobs spoke before the show.
"It is important for us to blend in with our surroundings," he said. "I live in the country, I like it being dark."
Jacobs said he wanted to see more people in Orange County switch to more efficient light sources and uses.
Terri Buckner, with Sustainability at UNC, said the emphasis on light pollution came from the coincidence of Earth Week with International Dark Sky Week.
"I want people to understand that more light is not necessarily safer," she said. "Tonight was just about education."
The audience split up into groups that toured Franklin Street and the campus while guides pointed out different types of lights and how well they dealt with the issue of light pollution.
Bob Talley, an electrical engineer, said the best way to avoid light pollution is to set light bulbs higher up into their lamp casings, thus reducing the spillover that bleeds into the sky.
Lamps that fail to properly set their bulbs in this way are called "glare bombs."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
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