“Lights” has often been used as a popular shorthand term for electricity. Illustrating the value and importance that people place on illumination when no natural light is available.
In some countries, schoolchildren don’t even have lights to study by.
Personally, I think that kids shouldn’t be forced to stay up late like that, because kids learn much more quickly than we give them credit for, if we get out of their way.
And many studies have shown that staying up late with artificial lighting isn’t good for human bodies in general.
But, the fact remains that people need lighting in various situations.
As I wrote in my book, lighting need not have a high energy footprint, if we use it with discernment. Even a plain old incandescent bulb 100 W doesn’t have to add up to much, if we minimize its use to the bare essential. A lot of times in the rich Global North, we use lights when we actually don’t need to have lights on. It’s a social norm mainly.
(This does not apply to people living in apartments or other dwellings that simply do not have adequate natural light even in the daytime in some cases.)
For me, one of the major benefits of minimizing use of electric lighting is aesthetic, as I prefer natural light. Minimizing use of lightbulbs doesn’t make much of a difference on our electric bill.
another benefit is reduced sense of vulnerability. I simply don’t care about lights when there’s a power outage. I’ve been doing it for so long and I’m very used to it, but for some people, it can be very scary when there are no lights available.
The usual ways to deal with this unnerving situation are to have candles, and back-up battery-powered lamps. Nowadays there are lots of cool rechargeable lanterns, some of them rechargeable by the sun.
I also recommend oil lamps. I have a little collection of vintage ones. (SAFETY NOTE: If you are new to oil lamps, please read the label of the fuel container very carefully. Some lamps and fuels are not suitable for use in enclosed spaces. I use a specialized lamp oil for indoors.)
Some other ways to reduce dependency on electric lighting include going to bed when it gets dark (not an option for everyone’s work or school schedule); and using night time for phone visits with friends, watching TV, or other things that don’t require light. Again, it’s a social norm. People don’t usually think about it, but we don’t need to have the lights on when we’re just having a phone chat with a friend. Or sitting out on the porch with a neighbor. Or watching TV or videos, whether on our phone or computer or a regular TV.
If you have kids or grandkids, you could even do a camp-out, either outside or in the living room! I’ve heard lots of people enjoy pitching a tent in the living room.
Lights at night are a thing that humans have always valued. The original version was probably the good old campfire. Not only for safety, but also for community. I doubt that I will ever do without lights, especially at night, but there’s a certain freedom from being able to think of electric lighting as optional.
Of course, an environmental-justice aspect of this is that we need to make it a priority that all dwellings have adequate natural lighting. Many do not, and thus the residents depend on electric lighting even in the daytime. This jacks up people’s electric bills and also is just not very pleasant.
It’s always painful for me to see people in such distress during the power outages that inevitably accompany hurricanes and other storms. Minimizing our dependency on electric lighting is something that can benefit us all.
during and after last summer’s storms here, I became more keenly aware of how we the public have given the electric power company a huge blank check. It’s like we’ll pay them anything just to turn the lights back on. Hundreds of electric power workers were even brought in from out of state. This had to cost a fortune, and ultimately the ones footing the bill will be us.
It’s not a secure or safe position to be in. The power companies can jack up the rates anytime, and most people are all too willing to go along with it. Maybe if enough of us are able to reduce our dependency, they won’t feel so free to constantly jack up our base rates, tack on “storm recovery fees,” etc.
