Solar lawn lights

The product of the moment, Solar Lights, doesn't require a spin, so I get to say what I really think! And really honestly, I'm of mixed opinion on a product like this. On the one hand, I am all for solar energy (and it's at a decent cost too, at $12-$30 for a single light). We have limited resources here on the Earth, and most of the energy in the US comes from burning coal, a non-renewable fossil fuel that also adds CO_2 to the atmosphere (a major greenhouse gas, contributing to global warming). So solar lights are better than non-solar lights.

However, I'm also an astronomer, so I'm against outdoor nighttime lighting. I just spent two weeks in the middle of nowhere at an astronomy camp, including one week of New Moon, and even by just the stars and the lightpollution from the next town over, I could see well enough to avoid obstacles and recognize people by face. You really just don't need that much light. No studies have ever shown that simply increasing lighting increases safety (International Dark Sky Association), so the common belief that lighting will cut down crime isn't substantiated by facts at all.

But if you've just gotta do outdoor night lighting, here's what I suggest you get from Solar Lights: scroll down the page and you'll see a few solar lights on stakes or posts with little shields over the tops. These are your best choice: you're not adding to your electricity bill or the CO_2 in the atmosphere or depleting the fossil fuels, and with the shade on the top the majority of the light you're creating goes straight down to the ground where it's needed, and not upwards into your eyes or into the night sky. It'd be better if the shades went down even lower, but they're pretty good as is.