Lights Out Night

Mt. Hood at sunset. | Photo by A.Davey

The third annual Lights Out Portland on night of Sept. 21 through the morning of Sept. 22 is a one-night event in which residential households and commercial buildings dim their lighting in order to raise awareness about the impact of light pollution on migrating birds, about wasted energy in the form of light thrown up into the sky, and about preserving our ability to see stars from your homes in the city. The event is hosted by the Audubon Society of Portland. 

In past years, over 2,000 households and 18 of Portland’s iconic buildings have participated in the citywide effort to save energy, save birds, and see stars.

The Audubon Society of Portland is lobbying City Council to fund a light pollution ordinance. They ask that those interested should send City Council an email to let them know that Portlanders truly value preservation of dark skies. Lights Out Portland pairs well with National Audubon and National Geographic’s 2018 Year of the Bird campaign in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Monthly calls to action invite people to participate in the celebration by taking a few simple steps to help birds. September’s Call to Action is Help Birds on their Journey, focusing on the plight of migrating birds and efforts we can each make to help reduce window collisions and curb the impacts of light pollution.

Nocturnal migrants that use the moon and stars to navigate can be drawn off course when passing over domes of skyglow that functionally blot out their starry guideposts.

Once in lit areas, birds can collide with buildings or succumb to myriad of other hazards that the city presents, including windows, cats, and cars.

You can take the Pledge to Go Lights Out here.