It occurred to me the other evening that if every home in our community replaced their outside white lights with yellow bug bulbs, our village could look very much like a Thomas Kinkade painting — warm and welcoming, with many more stars in our night sky.

Light pollution is the over-illumination of the night sky. Stars become invisible beyond the sky glow, can’t be seen.

Light pollution causes ecological disruptions to animals — sleep, foraging, migration and mating. Nocturnal animals, such as coyotes, bear, bats, and deer are impacted as well with lower reproductive rates and impairment of night vision.

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Every year, an estimated 100 million birds are killed when they fly into buildings after being lured off course by artificial lights.

So why not just turn off your home’s outside lights when you’re not outside or home, and replace your current white-light exterior bulbs with low-level yellow-wavelength bulbs that don’t attract insects and bats?

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And maybe talk with your neighbors about how light pollution can be reduced in your neighborhood. We’ll all benefit. And we’ll all thank you for making the change.

So, how many stars are there in your night sky?

Bill Casey

Incline Village