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Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

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Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#161

Post by xyzzy_plugh »

zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

My understanding is that these are not legal in most first world countries anymore -- I know they are banned in Canada and parts of Europe at least.

It sounds like Germany is already on their way to banning glyphosate[0]

0: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/germany-...

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#162

Post by faitswulff »

GordonS wrote: post #135
zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

I never going the obsession with pristine lawns without clover, daisies, moss and such. I actually think it looks quite nice with some variation. My wife is militant about this, insisting that our lawn is sprayed with horrible chemicals at least once a year to kill off the clover, daisies and moss. Seems such a pointless thing to do, and very obviously not good for wildlife.

Clover also doesn’t get as tall as grass, which obviates the need for mowing the lawn. And the rabbits quite like it.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#163

Post by boudin »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #150

Wow. I have to say that I have never considered the case where insects needed to be saved. It seems to me that as lifeforms go, they have been the most durable form of multi-cellular life on the planet. That said, that there are negative systemic effects on the planet's ecosystems that are directly related to the massive production and use of herbicides and pesticides is not as surprising. Light though? Even after re…

Sound is also actually quite problematic. Flowers can use vibrations to detect the presence of a nearby pollinator insect and makes itself more appealing. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/flowers-sweeten-wh...

The sound pollution might have the adverse effect of causing some plants to lose this ability to preserve energy for reproduction, indirectly impacting insects via the food chain.

Currently, due to the massive use of chemicals in the countryside, cities start to be havens for insects. There is a lot of beehives in London for example (too much actually according to a beekeeper I talked with). Until we manage to massively shift the way we do agriculture it might make sense to make it as safe as possible for insects in urban areas.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#164

Post by rokweom »

ashtonkem wrote: post #26

This is good; we've badly underestimated the cost of excess light pollution. Also good is using more LED street lamps that focus the light where we need it, rather than all over the place. Light pollution is bad, and street lights are very power hungry, with the old sodium lights consuming up to 0.25kWh per hour.

Sodium lamps are very efficient. Saying that they consume up to 250W doesn't mean anything. There are LED lamps that consume much more.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#165

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

masswerk wrote: post #68
pointillistic wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some European countries, named here, only very recently cared more about insects than people.

Fun fact: they started to care (only), because it's going to affect people. The drop in insect populations has become concerning. Without them, no crops, no fruits, no agriculture, which isn't that great a prospect for humans.

We can have pollination by swarms of meshed microdrones.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#166

Post by kingkawn »

GordonS wrote: post #135
zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

I never going the obsession with pristine lawns without clover, daisies, moss and such. I actually think it looks quite nice with some variation. My wife is militant about this, insisting that our lawn is sprayed with horrible chemicals at least once a year to kill off the clover, daisies and moss. Seems such a pointless thing to do, and very obviously not good for wildlife.

Do everything you can to convince her otherwise, we need those bugs desperately.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#167

Post by adrianN »

bluntfang wrote: post #118
zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

any suggestions for a poison ivy patch? I'm doing the rounds of vinegar and placing tarps/boxes over the area, trying to avoid the nuclear option.

Cut it back and suffocate it in mulch. Might take a while before the roots run out of power.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#168

Post by yummypaint »

rubber_duck wrote: post #143
zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

>has led to the near-extinction of bees in residential areas Why do you want bees in residential areas ? I think that it's illegal to keep bees in some proximity to residential areas around here (my grandparents used to keep bees).

A more accurate framing of the question would be "Should we wantonly destroy massive ecosystems covering vast fractions of available land area for the sake of socially constructed vanity?"

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#169

Post by epanchin »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #16

I actually was sitting outside a few nights ago and realized that there was no more fireflies, and I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one. I used to go out all the time during summer as a kid to catch them, they would light up whole fields. That was just like 15 years ago. Pretty sobering realization

Driving through Europe one finds the front of the car covered in squashed insects. Drive through the UK and there are none. Depressing.

Re: Germany plans to dim lights at night to save insects

#170

Post by pkaye »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #161
zackmorris wrote: post #109

The best thing we can do on a personal level is to stop using broadleaf weedkillers like Scott's Weed and Feed and other herbicides like glyphosate (Roundup). I've been doing handyman work at my boss's house during COVID-19 and he has clover growing in his yard. He has a fair number of bees, certainly more than on my end of town which is all chemlawns. It's arguably ok to use a little weed killer by hand on dandelion…

My understanding is that these are not legal in most first world countries anymore -- I know they are banned in Canada and parts of Europe at least. It sounds like Germany is already on their way to banning glyphosate[0] 0: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/germany-...

So what is the recommended replacement for glyphosate?
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