Hi MFG fans, this is David Castillo from Renegade filling in for Drew while he is away on vacation. No worries though there is still plenty to report from the front lines. Lets get started shall we? A lot has been said about harnessing the sun as a prime source for alternative energy. Yet not much has been said about using the Moon to advance the green cause, until now. PSFK recently wrote a post about pioneering new lunar resonant streetlights that respond to ambient moonlight to save energy and minimize light pollution. The Civil Twilight Design Collective developed these green streetlights and have been getting a lot of buzz due to their big win at the Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition. Digging further into their website I really like the way they frame the reasoning behind why cities should adopt their street lights and people should get behind them. These three statistics provided by them really boil it down for me.
* Streetlights account for 38% of all electricity used for lighting
in the U.S.
* That energy produces 300,000,000 of carbon emissions per year
* Streetlights are the largest factor in light pollution, which
prevents 2/3 of Americans from seeing stars or moonlight.
Notice their two-pronged approach. They are not just trying to show people that their product is *enhancing* streetlights to save energy but to make the world we live in a more beautiful place. I think the latter is a great way to *engage* people. Most people know green is good, but green is beautiful might be something they need to be reminded of.
