Green Street Lights

Energy-saving street lights should be dimmed or turned off altogether because they are harmful to insects and other wildlife, according to academics.

A study in Pederburg University found that LED street lights acted as a draw for predatory spiders and beetles, destroying vegetation and damaging other species. Pests were more likely to be attracted to grassland patches lit by cold white green energy-efficient lighting than those with conventional sodium street lamps.

The number of spiders and beetles drawn was drastically cut when lights were dimmed by 50 per cent, or switched off between midnight and 4 am. However, this study said that “averting the ecological impact of night time lighting may ultimately require avoiding its use altogether”.